Savage
by rexlover180
Summary: After being swept up in a storm while exploring uncharted seas, Arthur Kirkland and his crew are stuck on an island. For how long, they don't know. It seems easy enough to stay proper Englishmen, as they were born and rasied to be, during their stay. But, they could be stuck there for quite a long time. USUK human!AU set in 1900s.
1. Stranded

Arthur Kirkland was the best known Royal Navy captain in the world. He was the best at what he did. And that was why he was chosen to be the captain of the crew to chart unknown islands in unknown seas.

Arthur had no problem with it, no problem at all. This could put him in history, so a hundred years from now, kids would learn about him in schools and he would be talked about for a while, like Columbus, or Magellan. So, a nice grin was plastered on his face as he steered his ship through the ocean spray. They were well equipped for anything that could happen to them, like savages or even being stuck in a storm. Needless to say, he was feeling very confident.

"Captain!" a crew member, Jonathan, if Arthur remembered correctly, ran up to him. Arthur wasn't exactly familiar with this crew, it was essentially assigned to him because he never had a crew for himself.

"Yes?" Arthur asked.

"Crow's nest has spotted a storm," Jonathan reported quickly. "It looks like a big one, sir."

"I will have you know that we are well equipped for anything," Arthur stated. But, he was still curious about that storm. So, he let go of the wheel, knowing full well that Jonathan would quickly take it and steer for him. He quickly walked over to the other end of the ship, easily moving around the workers and overcoming the rocking of the boat with expertise. He had been on ships since he was just a boy and he quickly got his sea legs.

On the other end of the ship, he pulled out his spy glass to look at the horizon. Sure enough, he could quite easily see menacing black clouds creeping up, towards them. Arthur hummed slightly as he tucked his spy glass in his back pocket. It was going to be a big storm, he could tell just by glancing at it. His ship could take some damage, but that storm did look big… From what he could tell, they weren't close to an island yet, so they may be in a little trouble.

He kept a calm face as he walked back to the wheel and took it back easily from Jonathan.

"We will be fine," Arthur assured him, staring straight ahead. Even without the spy glass, he could see that spot of black coming slowly and slowly closer. It would take some preparation before they hit it and a lot of hard work from the crew, but it would be nothing they couldn't handle, he was sure of it.

* * *

The storm came far sooner than he expected it to. And it was far bigger than he expected. It took all of his strength to try to keep the wheel straight without him slipping around on the deck. The rest of his crew was doing just that. They had to desperately man the sails and there were plenty below decks trying to keep all of their supplies from harm, but they were just sliding around desperately trying to stay upright. Rain was pelting them on all sides and Arthur was drenched right to the bone. He couldn't even see where he was going, but he did want to make sure he kept the wheel straight, in hopes that they wouldn't tip too much. But it was exhausting.

There seemed to be no end in sight, but he did have his crew to take care of…

Finally, though, there was a large gust of wind that lurched the wheel out of Arthur's hands and he was sent flying into the side railing. He didn't even let himself rest before he stood back up and quickly tried to make his way back to the wheel. But their ship hit a massive wave, making Arthur slide all the way to the back of the ship, hitting the rail hard.

"Captain!" Jonathan clumsily clamored up to Arthur. "What do we do!?" he had to scream over the roar of the storm.

"I-I…" Arthur stared up at the storm. "I don't know…" he muttered, so quietly that he even couldn't hear himself. They hit another big wave, making Jonathan slam into the rail, too. When the ship crashed back onto the sea, they heard a massive crack. "Shit…" Arthur muttered and slowly and carefully made his way up to the wheel, where he could see the rest of the ship. They hit another wave and he held on tightly to the wheel to make sure he didn't fall back.

When they crashed down, he could easily see multiple giant cracks all over the deck of his ship. It was going to fall apart, no matter what he tried to do. His ship was built to be strong, but not this strong.

But, like a godsend, a quiet voice that seemed to be trying to yell called out to him. "Land ho!"

Arthur immediately started scouting around, trying to find this "land." When he looked hard enough through the pelting rain, he found a small dot on the horizon, slowly getting closer. Arthur grew a small smile and silently thanked God and promised to pray more when he got out of this.

Arthur opened his mouth to shout something at his crew, but they hit yet another giant wave and Arthur's grip slipped on the wheel and he flew back. He expected to hit the railing hard, but he definitely didn't expect to flip over the edge of the boat.

He screamed and tried desperately to get a grip on the railing or any part of the ship, but he was falling to fast and very quickly hit the freezing cold water. It shocked all of the breath out of him as he slowly started sinking.

In all honesty, Arthur had no idea how to swim. That may seem odd considering his status as a captain, but if you're a really good captain, there should really be no reason for you to know how to swim. So, Arthur desperately struggled through the churning waves sending him in circles so that there was no way he could know which way was up. Eventually, though, he had to suck in a breath to breathe, but all he got was a lung full of salt water.

Just when he was about to maybe make it out alive, everything just had to fall apart…Arthur stopped struggling, accepting his fate. He would be famous alright. Famous for being a failed captain who couldn't even make it out of a simple storm…

He slowly became numb and forgot about his surroundings, he barely even noticed that he was being dragged somewhere by something.

* * *

Arthur was more than a little surprised when he found himself slowly waking up. He could hear calm waves in the background and felt rather cool. He could feel the slight sea spray and a nice mixture of grass and sand beneath him.

He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by what looked like a palm tree with small specks of light coming through.

"Lads! He's waking up!" someone called above him. Arthur blinked a few times and moved his head around a little bit. Behind him, was a real palm tree, something he'd seen on rare occasions. In front of him, though, was a beautiful beach. Pure white sand and the sea was a beautiful turquoise that sparkled in the sunlight.

"Captain," someone started shaking his shoulder and Arthur quickly snapped out of his trance to look up at the person.

"Maxwell," Arthur smiled slightly at him, his voice very hoarse. Maxwell was Arthur's first mate. In all honesty, Arthur had no idea what he was doing during that storm, but it must have been something useful. Wait…the storm… "Th-the storm," Arthur tried to sit up, but felt a pain in his stomach and started coughing uncontrollably.

"Don't try to sit up yet," Maxwell said, lightly pushing Arthur back onto the ground. "You did your best with the storm, but the ship fell apart. She's somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. I realize you probably wanted to go down with her, but your crew needs you."

"Where are we?" Arthur asked.

"Uncharted island," Maxwell reported, looking up at the sky. "It's quite a beauty."

"How long have I been out?" Arthur asked, slowly propping himself up on his elbows behind him.

"The storm didn't take too long to pass," Maxwell stated, looking back at Arthur. "Just overnight, sir."

"Right," Arthur nodded. "Any food or water found yet?"

"No, sir, everyone's afraid to go into the jungle without you," Maxwell said.

Arthur sighed, shaking his head. He would have to get up now. "Water will be the most important thing to find," Arthur slowly worked to sitting up and leaned against the palm tree. He took a look at the crew he had left. "How many survived, Maxwell?"

"12, including you and me," Maxwell stated, still kneeling down at eye level with him.

"I see," Arthur sighed and worked on standing up slowly. His crew were all standing in a group on the beach in front of him. "You four," Arthur pointed at a random four. He was sort of crouching at this point. "Find fresh water. If there's a jungle here, there's bound to be fresh water."

"Captain, don't rush yourself," Maxwell tried to say, but Arthur was already standing up, leaning on the palm tree for support.

"I'm captain," Arthur panted. "I need to take charge."

"Yes, sir," Maxwell nodded.

"You three, set about seeing if there's any animals to hunt on this island, so we won't have to live off of fruit," he looked at some of the other trees and found things like bananas and coconuts lining the trees. "You two, make a signal fire, I don't want to be stuck here for too long. Make it here on the beach. Maxwell, you," he pointed at the last crew member left, "and I will start with shelters. For now, we'll settle on the beach to scout for passing ships."

"Aye, sir," the crew mumbled, nearly in unison and each set off to do their designated job except for the two left with Arthur. It took him a moment, but he realized that the one with him and Maxwell was Jonathan, the crew member from when the storm started.

"Once we have that settled," Arthur tried standing upright and only wobbled slightly, "I'll set off with you, Maxwell, and we'll map out this island to see how big it really is."

"Aye, sir," Maxwell nodded.

"Now let's see if we can find some fallen trees," Arthur stood up as straight as he could, he was a proper Englishman and he wouldn't let being stuck on an island change that fact. Then, their party of three headed out, into the jungle.

* * *

**Voila! New story! I honestly didn't expect this to come out, but in a matter of a few days, I'm seven chapters ahead. And then I saw this challenge of updating on New Years and I thought, why not?**

**Um, I know what a lot of you are probably thinking. If you've read Lord of the Flies, it seems like this will be a lot like it. In a way, it sort of is, but the main point of that book is not the main point of this one. You will see it soon enough. Oh, and if you haven't read Lord of the Flies, read it. And, if you can, find a copy with a little add on from Stephen King, the stuff he said in that was totally inspirational to me as a writer!**

**Anywho, please review! Tell me if this is any good. And don't worry, this chapter is kinda short compared to the other ones I've written.**

**I'm only putting this in the beginning, so pay attention all of you: I. Do. Not. Own. Hetalia. Or. Anything. I. Might. Add. In. Here.**


	2. Stuck

It didn't take Arthur's crew very long at all to have a nice living place with food, water, shelter, and even a fire. It hadn't rained since they got there, and they had been there for probably a week by the time Arthur and Maxwell had fully mapped out the island. There were two little lakes of fresh water fully surrounded by the deep foliage that was the massive jungle. Throughout the jungle were multiple families of wild pigs and even a few tropical birds. Inside the jungle was a crazy maze that was nearly impossible to figure out. But, the island itself was very simple. It wasn't very big, it's radius fairly small compared to a lot of other islands. And it was more or less a circle with a few bumps here and there. In the center, was the jungle with a large hill in the center that would allow someone to climb up a tree and see over the entire island and look out to the sea in all directions. Bordering the entire jungle was the beach with pearl white sand.

Currently, Arthur was minding the fire, making sure that it was puffing out enough smoke to be considered a signal fire. There had been no sign of ships the whole time they were there. But, a week wasn't exactly too long…

"My shift," Maxwell stated, coming up to Arthur.

"How long do you suppose we'll be stuck here?" Arthur asked, not moving from his position sitting in the soft sand.

"Who knows," Maxwell shrugged and sat down next to Arthur. Their clothes were ragged and both of them were shirtless. The entire crew's uniforms were shredded and useless at this point. It was so tropical here, they were warm in just their trousers, which they would be lucky to go down to cover their knees. Everyone was a bright shade of red from sun damage, but there wasn't much they could do about it. "But, we are Englishmen, it will take more than this to beat us."

"I'm not even sure where we are," Arthur sighed, staring into the seemingly endless ocean. "That storm made us go in circles, no doubt."

"They'll find us," Maxwell smiled, though his teeth were starting to turn a dark shade of yellow. "We are one of the most important crews in the ocean right now. They'll know we're missing soon and immediately come searching for us."

"Lord knows how long that might take," Arthur sighed. He could hear someone come out of the jungle with a rustle of leaves and heard him coughing. It wasn't just a simple cough to, say, clear your throat. It was a nasty cough, almost like it came from the gut, and it wouldn't stop for minutes at a time.

"Someone else has the cough," Maxwell sighed, shaking his head.

"These insects could carry any number of diseases," Arthur sighed, waving his hand. "Not to mention the animals we're around all the time."

"We'll make it," Maxwell assured him.

Arthur let out a cough, he had had it for quite a while now, and it took all of his strength to make sure he only coughed once. He couldn't let his crew freak out, knowing that their captain was extremely ill.

"Are you sure about that?" Arthur shook his head.

"We've lasted a week," Maxwell grinned. "Most people can't last that long. And with you, I'm quite sure we'll last a long time."

"If I live through this plague," Arthur shakily stood up. "I'll start a hunting party. Search for us if we're gone longer than an hour."

"Aye, sir," Maxwell nodded.

"Jonathan, Harrison," Arthur shouted to two men, one of the few who didn't have the plague. "Grab your spears." That was all that they needed to know that they were going hunting. They had found some rocks a while ago and carved them into the tips of the spears, which they made the rest out of long sticks on the ground. They worked well, for all they needed.

Arthur picked up his own spear and started walking into the jungle, not looking behind to check that those two were still following him. He could already hear a pig, which would prove to be good. He was already feeling faint from walking around so much. He covered his mouth to silence a cough, but he didn't expect two of them to come out. He leaned against a nearby tree to rest a bit.

"Are you alright, captain?" Jonathan asked tentatively.

"I'll survive," Arthur muttered. He wasn't about to tell any of the members of his crew all of the fears he just confessed to Maxwell. Maxwell was his first mate, and he had told him his doubts many times now. Arthur quickly stood up straight. "Come on, I think I heard a pig close by."

"Aye, sir," the two nodded and the trio marched ahead. As they slowly crouched their way through the jungle, they soon caught sight of the dirty, pink pig. It looked rather big and obviously male.

Arthur let out a low whistle, something that meant for them to spread out. They figured out a way of communicating when hunting. It was a simple language, in all honesty, but slightly complicated to figure out. The two moved to opposite sides of Arthur. He waited to hear each of them click their tongues, announcing that they made it to where they thought would be good. Arthur sighed and gripped the spear tighter, crouching down slightly. He had gone hunting a few times and found that he was very good at it and very quick. Hopefully, this sickness wouldn't slow him down too much.

Now Arthur let out a higher pitched whistle, and sounded it off twice, which was code for attack. The three of them sprang out of their hiding places and caught the pig by surprise. They speared it a few times before it fell down, dead. It's squeals were loud, but Arthur had found them easy to tune out.

With the man power between the three of them, they easily lugged the animal back to their camp on the beach. Arthur was sweating heavily by the time they got back, a mixture of exertion, heat, and the illness. He left it to Jonathan and Harrison to skin the thing and start cooking it over their fire.

"We need to try to move more inland," Arthur muttered to Maxwell and heavily sat down next to him. He felt another cough coming on and didn't even try to hold this one back. It went on far past a minute and he always tried to gasp for air between them.

"We need to find a way to cure this illness," Maxwell stared at him worriedly.

"What makes you think the cure is here?" Arthur snorted.

"Well, the disease is here," Maxwell offered. He let out a simple cough, too. That was always how they started.

"Don't tell me you've got it now," Arthur sighed.

"What makes you think moving inland will be better?" Maxwell asked, changing the subject.

"I'm sure the hogs are moving further inland," Arthur stated. "And we will be running out of fruit soon. And we shouldn't have people moving so much just to get water…"

"We need to be a little more cautious with how we use our resources," Maxwell stated.

"We could move the shelters tomorrow," Arthur stated. "Being on the beach won't be safe if we get another big storm, either…"

"How far in do you suppose would be fine, then?" Maxwell asked.

"Halfway to the middle," Arthur stated. "We can have cover from all sorts of weather, even this blasted sun. And we can get things quicker."

"Which do you prefer?" Maxwell laughed. "The civilization of England or the relaxation of this island?"

"I will tell you that when I allow myself to relax," Arthur chuckled lightly. "Once I get back, I won't be missing this sun."

"You're just sore from all the burns," Maxwell teased.

"I'm sure Francis would be laughing at me, seeing me this tan," Arthur looked up at the sky. There were a few, small, puffy clouds moving over them, but nothing that could cause any sort of rain.

"You're already missing Francis and I'm already missing my wife," Maxwell looked over at him. "What miracle could come next?"

"I wouldn't consider it missing that French bastard," Arthur chuckled. "Just missing home."

"The men are making bets about how long it will take for us to get rescued," Maxwell stated.

"What are they thinking?" Arthur asked.

"Anything from a week to 10 years," Maxwell laughed at the last bit.

"I'll bet 20 shillings on two months," Arthur stated. "But 50 on 10 years, if we last that long."

"You would be willing to bet on 10 years?" Maxwell asked.

"Seems like a fair bet to make," Arthur smirked.

"Will we be keeping the fire out here?" Maxwell poked a stick into the fire.

"This is as good a place as any," Arthur stated. "It could burn down the jungle if we keep it in there. We can have two people at a time watch over it, so no one gets lonely."

"Or, if we last 10 years, suicidal," Maxwell laughed slightly, but he was promptly cut off by a cough.

"What do you think about having a bird tomorrow?" Arthur asked, looking up at the sky and watching as a few birds flew overhead.

"Serves them right for flaunting their freedom," Maxwell sighed.

* * *

They stayed there longer than most expected. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years. They did move further into the forest, but after a year, they decided to give up on that signal fire. No one was going to come rescue them.

The signals they used when hunting slowly took over the way they actually talked and eventually formed into their language. After all, they did have years to perfect it.

Several people died from the illness, but about 8 were able to live on, Arthur included with them. They were hit by more than a few tropical storms, even what could be classified as a hurricane, but they lived on. Slowly through the years, they forgot the clothes of their homeland, and wore simple, warm pelts from pigs.

Arthur tried very hard to remember home, but after a while, it all just fell apart when he tried to remember it. Society, friends, his job, it was all forgotten. All that mattered was the family he had now. He was the leader and though no one remembered why, it was an undisputed fact.

So, the idea of home, England, the idea of an outside world, slowly was sent to the backs of their minds, almost like a dream.

* * *

**I feel a little bad for this time skip, but...nothing happens in a very, very long time. I had to establish the island and Arthur, though, so that's why I started out with them getting stranded. Oh, and don't worry, Alfred comes in next chapter! So you have the hero to look forward to! Also, I realized last chapter that I forgot to establish that I will be uploading every two days, unlike my usual everyday (because I know I'm gonna be busy). And that, there are going to be a few OCs, but they don't last long. The main characters are Hetalia characters, don't worry.**

**And please review! I will wuv you fowever and ever!**


	3. Arthur Kirkland?

**Okay, fair warning, dialogue in italics means it's the language Arthur and his crew have come up with on the island.**

* * *

Alfred F. Jones considered himself to be a hero. And a damn good one at that. He had saved multiple ships from shipwrecks and saved a few stranded sailors. He and his crew had even stepped into a battle against pirates and helped the Royal Navy come out on top.

He could be considered a new captain, but no one could consider him to be young. About 34. That was one of the few things that he didn't like. He still had the mind of a young, rebellious kid, but he had to work in the real world and try to have a job. So, he picked one where he could at least have fun. Being captain of a ship was probably one of the best feelings in the world. He could run around the ship, shout orders like he did to his friends all the time when they were kids. And he could see so many new places and be proclaimed a hero for all of the things he did for people.

Alfred was currently sitting in his quarters, staring down at a map. They were in uncharted territory and running a little low on supplies. They were in a part of the map left alone for nearly 10 years. This was the part of the sea where someone went missing. But, not just someone.

Alfred sighed and turned his attention to the missing poster sitting next to his map. Every captain had this face memorized, even pirate captains. He'd been gone for 10 years, but the price for his safe return kept on increasing, so people kept looking, though it seemed like a lost cause.

"Arthur Kirkland," Alfred sighed, picking up the poster. It was in black and white, but he could easily guess what this man looked like. Ragged, blonde hair from the looks of it and very thick eyebrows. This picture was an artist's rendition, and it showed a nice smirk on his face, which showed that he was probably very cocky, but still very good at what he did. And those eyes… Alfred was very curios what color they had in them, but the picture had some sort of a spark in them…He seemed pretty frail, but people still seemed to think that this captain was still alive.

Alfred was in the American navy, and Arthur was from the British Royal Navy, but they were currently allies. So it was all fair that Alfred could take his spare time in searching for the man. But, after 10 years, it almost seemed like a lost cause…

"Captain!" someone rushed into the cabin, panting like they had just run for miles.

"Yes, what is it?" Alfred tilted his head to the side.

"There's a signal fire on one of these islands," the man reported. Alfred looked back down at the map. This was about the spot Arthur Kirkland had supposedly gone missing. Signal fire on an island…

"Dock there," Alfred swiped up the missing poster and stuffed it in his pocket before sauntering outside. There were a couple islands around them but one had a nice line of smoke coming from a thick jungle inside of it. The ship turned towards it and Alfred couldn't help but let out a smile. This was nearly too good to be true. Even if it's not Arthur Kirkland, he would still have the ability to say that he had saved someone in need of help.

"Do you think it could be Kirkland?" he heard some of his crew members asking each other.

"If it is, we'll be rich!"

"What a stroke of luck!"

"It's been 10 years," Alfred muttered, gripping onto the railing and leaning forward, still staring at the island. "What's happened to you?"

* * *

"_Chief! Chief!_" someone screamed in Arthur's ear. He quickly tightened his grip on his spear and got up onto his knees and pointed it at the intruder. But it turned out to just be a tribe member.

"_Why did you wake me up_?" Arthur growled at him.

"_There's another thing coming towards us_," he stated, staring Arthur in the eyes with no fear. "_Intruders._"

"_Get everyone together_," Arthur pointed the spear down and quickly stood up and walked out of his hut. They had a village somewhere near the center of the island and they all had huts, laid out in a circle with a fire pit in the middle, where they would cook food and keep warm during storms. Naturally, as leader, Arthur's hut was the biggest. Not like he needed it, but it was apparently necessary.

When Arthur got outside, he already found that the rest of his tribe was outside, spears at the ready.

"_How many, do you think?_" Arthur asked the man who came into his hut.

"_None more than we've handled before_," he nodded.

"_Good,_" Arthur stated. "_Lead the way_." They had dealt with multiple other intruders before. He never liked them, they gave him headaches. They always came on seemingly giant logs of wood, and Arthur, for some reason, felt a need to call them ships. He had no idea why, it was almost the same as those dreams he kept on having. There was no way to describe them, but they always brought him headaches. And he would get them every night.

Slowly, the person who scouted out the "ship" led them through the jungle. Over time, the whole tribe learned how to go through the jungle quietly and without even touching the ground if they wanted to. So, some of the more expert members, including Arthur, were quick to jump into the trees. The scout was walking through the jungle as the others leapt happily through the thick foliage. Soon, they could all tell that they were close to the shore. The few men on the ground stopped walking and hid in the brush.

The ones in the trees, however, were able to creep up practically to the trees next to the beach. Arthur was further ahead than the rest, his spear in his hand and at the ready, if need be. All of the other intruders had brought these strange weapons that set off explosions and he hated those. These, though, didn't seem to have anything of the sort. They came on a small "ship" and walked with giant footsteps everywhere with their weird feet.

Arthur narrowed his eyes as he watched them.

* * *

"The fire was put out," Alfred sighed, looking up, above the jungle as he and his crew clamored off the dingy.

"They couldn't have gone anywhere," a crew mate assured him.

"Maybe," Alfred took a step towards the jungle and couldn't help but shiver. "I have a feeling someone's watching us."

"That must be them!" someone said excitedly and started towards the jungle, but Alfred stopped him.

"I wouldn't suggest that," Alfred said slowly.

"What do you mean?" another member of the crew asked.

"That crew's been gone for 10 years," Alfred said, not tearing his eyes away from the jungle. "There's bound to be other people that have found this island, it's not exactly hidden."

"What do you mean?" another one asked.

"Either there's something here," Alfred said slowly. "Or something's happened to them."

"You mean like they've become savages?" someone gasped.

"Maybe," Alfred said slowly, slightly regretting not bringing a gun or something with them. "If he's in there, he might be a little harder to get to than we thought… Hey, Arthur?! Are you in there?!"

Suddenly, there was a very large, very noticeable rustle in the trees and, within a blink of an eye, someone was in front of Alfred, pointing a spear right in the center of his chest.

"C-C-Captain?" someone stuttered and Alfred saw out of the corner of his eye that there were other people, pointing spears at his men.

Alfred studied the man in front of him. He was near brown, probably from long exposure to the sun on this island. He had dirty blonde hair that seemed far longer than any woman's normally should have been. He was hardly wearing any clothes, except for a small loin cloth. His expression was beyond furious, he had bushy eyebrows furrowed in anger. But the thing that caught Alfred the most off guard was those eyes. They weren't just green, no that would be insulting them. They were far more beautiful than emeralds, far deeper and mysterious than any forest, and almost seemed to create a gem of their own.

The man spoke in a series of clicks, whistles, and grunts that Alfred couldn't understand. But it was obvious he was talking to Alfred. His teeth were nearly brown, probably from lack of attention.

Alfred gulped. He'd never really encountered savages, but there was something about this man that piqued his interest. They weren't exactly savages…

"I don't want to hurt you," Alfred stated, putting his hands up in surrender. The man in front of him narrowed his eyes. He let out a long series of clicks and grunts, it was like he was trying to talk, but Alfred couldn't even begin to understand what he was saying.

"What do we do?" someone asked in a pleading voice to Alfred.

"I," Alfred put both of his hands on his chest. "Go with," Alfred moved his hands over to gestured to the man. "You."

The man looked him over cautiously. Some of the other "savages" talked to him in their weird language. The man glanced over at them before nodding slightly. He pointed his spear at the rest of Alfred's crew, clicked, and then pointed the spear at the ground. He grunted something out as he did so.

"They," Alfred slowly pointed at his crew. "Stay?" Alfred pointed at the ground. The man nodded.

"Captain," someone hissed at him.

"Relax," Alfred stated and he still couldn't tear his eyes away from that man. "I," Alfred put his hands to his chest. "Go," Alfred nodded and then motioned to the man.

The man nodded and shouted something at the other people and started walking into the jungle. Alfred found two others pointing spears at his sides and they started slowly walking into the jungle. The three "savages" weaved expertly through the jungle, but Alfred found himself tripping constantly over roots or some small animal, or once even his own feet. The whole while they were on their way, the three of them were having a conversation in their odd language and Alfred felt a little hopelessly lost. But he just kept walking with them.

They eventually emerged into a little clearing with small, little huts forming a circle around a fire pit, which was emitting a small amount of smoke. Directly across from their small group was the largest hut, which Alfred assumed was for the leader. The way everyone was acting, that man was their leader.

The three continued talking and Alfred had honestly no idea what about. They could be talking about anything from the weather or even killing him. It was just terrifying… Until that man let out a laugh. It was a joyful laugh and it almost had a magical hint to it. But the thing that caught Alfred the most off guard was the grin he had on afterwards. That was the grin on the poster…

"Arthur?" Alfred interrupted them and suddenly that man turned to glare at him. He spoke something again, but Alfred still couldn't understand. Alfred slowly and shakily pulled the missing poster from his back pocket. "Arthur Kirkland?" Alfred asked very slowly and very clearly. He unfolded the poster and presented it to the man.

He stared at it for a bit, glancing back at Alfred a few times. Then his face twisted with rage.

And that was when it started to go downhill.

* * *

**Yay! Alfred's finally here! I really have no idea what to say here, mainly because I'm tired and such...**

**Anywho, please review! It's totally awesome and stuff.**


	4. Looking

Arthur stared in awe at the stranger in front of him. He knew his name, for some reason Arthur didn't know, and that infuriated him. This man dared to come in with his light brown hair and his eyes the color of the ocean, something Arthur hadn't seen in his life, and then produce this odd thing that had his face on it?

"_Where did you get that_?" Arthur growled at the stranger.

"I-I don't understand," the stranger shook his head. "A-Alfred," the stranger tried to say clearly, pointing at his chest. "Alfred."

"Alfred," Arthur repeated. Was this the stranger's name? It was better than calling him "stranger."

Alfred nodded. "Alfred." Then, he pointed at Arthur. "Arthur."

Arthur nodded. "Arthur," he pointed at himself. This was starting to feel rather stupid.

"I," Alfred pointed at himself. "Look." He moved his hand over his eyes and started looking around. "Him." Alfred pointed at the picture. "You." He pointed at Arthur.

"_You're looking for him_?" Arthur asked. "_For me?_"

"_This is stupid_," a tribe member rolled his eyes.

"_No_," Arthur shook his head. He was getting slightly interested now… "_Why do you want me_?"

Alfred shifted slightly in his feet. He seemed to be guessing at what to say next, but he was saying the right things.

"He," Alfred pointed at the picture. "Missing." He looked at a loss for how to explain the word with hand motions. Arthur shook his head, not understanding what he said. "Gone," Alfred tried. "Nowhere. Disappeared. Uh…" He put his hand into a fist and then opened it, showing his palm. And then he hid it behind his back. "Poof."

"_I…disappeared_?" Arthur asked.

"_This isn't worth our effort,_" a tribe member scoffed. "_Let's just kill him and the others_."

"No!" Arthur turned towards him.

"No?" Alfred asked and Arthur turned around, back to him. "English?"

Arthur slowly shook his head. He didn't speak this weird language Alfred spoke. But, it did seem slightly familiar. That word that just accidentally slipped off his tongue even felt weird. This was all starting to give him a headache…

"No English?" Alfred asked.

"No English," Arthur recited.

"But you at least understand me?" Alfred asked. "A-A little?"

Arthur looked down at the ground.

"Hey," Alfred tried to get his attention and Arthur looked up. He held up his thumb and fore finger so that they were barely a centimeter apart. "A little?"

"Little," Arthur muttered.

"Okay," Alfred nodded, seeming to talk to himself. "I can work with this…"

"_Why aren't we just killing them_?" one of the tribe members asked impatiently.

"_We'll let them live for now_," Arthur stated, still staring at Alfred.

"_What? Why?_"

"_I trust him_," Arthur stated, looking Alfred up and down. He was dressed oddly, yet it seemed so familiar to him.

"_When will they leave_?"

"_I don't think they will_." Arthur stated. "_They've come for me, maybe you, too._"

Alfred shifted a little uncomfortably while they talked, but eventually, he held out a hand, probably for Arthur to take. "Peace?"

Arthur looked at the hand for a while and then up at Alfred. He seemed fairly innocent, far different from any of the other intruders he'd seen. He was the only one that tried to talk, rather than immediately attack.

"Peace." Arthur had no idea how he knew what that word meant, but he took Alfred's hand and they shook. Alfred nodded, smiling. Arthur looked back at the picture. That was definitely him, but it seemed like it was from a different time. Like a dream. "_I'm tired_," Arthur stated, turning around. "_Bring him back to his men. They are allowed to stay here until I deem that they cannot_."

"Aye, sir," the two nodded. That was almost like a mantra that they had. Anytime Arthur gave anyone an order, they would reply with that and do it right away. Arthur couldn't say why, they had always done it.

"Uh…" he heard Alfred being led away. "G-Goodbye, then, Arthur!"

Arthur went straight into his hut and quickly shut the door, holding his head. It was hurting horribly, far worse than anything he'd experienced before. He just needed to sleep, he decided, so he quickly laid down on his mat made from hog hide.

He closed his eyes and happily welcomed the sleep that quickly overcame him.

* * *

Admittedly, Alfred was a little confused when Arthur suddenly went into his little hut. And even more so when they spoke some English. The others acted like the crew enough, obeying him and everything. This was all just strange…

The two others with them forcefully grabbed his arms and led him back through the forest. All that he knew was that they established peace, he didn't know anything else. If he could barely speak to Arthur, he had no chance at communicating with them.

Soon, Alfred stumbled out of the jungle and towards his crew, which were standing awkwardly with the small crowd of "savages" around them. The ones with Alfred quickly talked to the others and they all disappeared into the jungle.

"What did you do?"

"I…I found Arthur Kirkland," Alfred stated, glancing over his shoulder, into the jungle.

"What? Are the savages holding him hostage?"

"He's their leader," Alfred laughed slightly. "He knew his name. And I think he knows at least a little English. It could take some time, but I think I can get him to come back with us."

"What makes you think this is him?"

"He looks just like the picture," Alfred gestured slightly wildly at the jungle. "The blonde hair, those bushy eyebrows, the eyes. That smirk on the picture!"

"Let me see that picture," someone walked up to him, their hand out.

"He kept it," Alfred rubbed the back of his head.

"How did you even manage to communicate with him?"

"Like hell do I know," Alfred shrugged. "I just guessed around and it worked!"

"How do you think they got this way, then? If they started out as one of the best crews in the Royal Navy, what could have happened?"

"10 years," Alfred placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "But they don't have to worry about it any longer. We're here to save 'em. It'll just take a while, is all."

"Are you sure they won't attack us?"

"From what I can tell, we're safe for now," Alfred swiped his hands on his trousers. "We have plenty of fresh water and food on the ship, we can stay there and come back here later."

"But you said we might be here for a while," someone argued. "We could easily run out of food and water."

"They've lived on this island for 10 years," Alfred said bluntly. "They have food and water."

"Who says they're willing to share?"

"We come in peace and they should, too," Alfred sighed, walking towards the long boat they used to get there. "As long as we don't attack them, they probably won't attack us. They still have a little bit of what they used to be in them."

"What makes you say that?"

"He vaguely understands me," Alfred hopped into the long boat. "And I've heard him speak English, and the others, too. They're still Englishmen, but just deep inside. We will take as long as we have to in order to bring that side back."

He turned around, back to his ship and was about to smile with this new found task, but let out a cough instead. He shook his head, passing it off as nothing.

* * *

"_I can tell that you're enjoying this party," Francis snickered, walking over to Arthur, who was currently standing in a corner, drinking champagne, and watching the other guests dancing._

"_Sod off," Arthur rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink._

"_Would it kill you to at least have some fun, mon ami?" Francis chuckled._

"_I'm about to go off on a voyage that will change my entire life," Arthur glared at him._

"_And you should relax before you go," Francis waved extravagantly towards the crowd of people dancing elegantly._

"_I need to stay focused, Francis," Arthur sighed. "There's a lot of things that could go wrong."_

"_You need to quit worrying," Francis laughed and quickly swiped up Arthur's drink._

"_Give it back, Francis," Arthur tried to grab it back, but Francis effectively kept it out of his reach._

"_We can't have you hung over on your big voyage, now can we?" Francis teased._

"_Francis, this is your last chance, you give that back," Arthur warned._

"_Temper, temper, mon ami," Francis laughed and quickly waltzed over, a little deeper in the ballroom._

"_You won't get me to walk onto the dance floor," Arthur sighed, shaking his head, and staying put._

"_Fine then," Francis shrugged and quickly downed the entire glass of champagne. "I can easily just bring the fun to you."_

"_Francis, just drop it," Arthur sighed._

"_Hm?" Francis held a hand to his ear, smirking. "I couldn't quite hear you. I'm a bit too far away."_

"_I am not dancing, and that is final," Arthur sighed._

"_We could simply talk," Francis shrugged._

"_I can't say I'm in the mood," Arthur shook his head._

"_You never are, mon ami," Francis winked and soon disappeared in the crowd of dancers and music. Arthur was perfectly content in watching it all. The swirling colors of the dresses the women were wearing, the beautiful dance steps everyone took so carefully, and the mesmerizing music. It could easily all be compared to a dream._

_Sure, he knew how to dance, and sure he was attractive enough to attract any woman he wanted in this room. But none of that interested him. He was rather distracted by the coiling of knots in his stomach with the coming stress of his next mission._

_He was merely 25, far too young to be sent off on as big a mission as this._

* * *

Arthur woke up in his hut. By the looks of it, the sun was far past set. No one dared to come in and interrupt him when he was sleeping, he had nearly killed one of them a couple years ago when they tried.

He would probably have to deal with a lot of complaints in the morning… But right now, he allowed himself to worry about that dream.

He'd had this one more than a couple times. He had no idea what he or that other man were saying, but he understood what was going on. The whole situation was a little too complicated for him to figure out, since the most he had to worry about is food, water, and shelter. The room had men and some other creature that had some similarities to a man. And they were all dressed in things that seemed to be far too stuffy for anything he would like.

The colors, though, were mystifying. He would kill to look at colors like that all day. But the colors on the island never changed. Even the newcomer, Alfred; his eyes were the same color as the sea and the sky. The colors never changed…

Arthur couldn't bring himself to get back to sleep, so he settled with sitting up, crossing his legs over each other, and trying to remember that dream.

* * *

**Voila! I'm back! I had a rough day at school today, since it was my first day back after break, and I'm exhausted! Half of my teachers gave me homework to do by tomorrow! On the first day back! I'm not even in any AP classes or anything! This is crazy... Anyway, Arthur has an easier life than me right now. He gets a dashing hero saving him from an island... Whatever.**

**Please review! It'll brighten up my dreadful day of school.**


	5. Medicine

Arthur's guess last night was right. The second he came outside of his hut, he was surrounded by the seven other tribe members, all of them demanding something of him.

"_How could you let them stay?_"

"_They're dangerous!_"

"_We should just kill them!_"

"_What were you thinking_?"

"_We can't trust them_."

Arthur growled deeply, getting all of their attentions. "_They are staying, that is final_," Arthur narrowed his eyes at all of them. "_If you hurt them, consider yourself exiled_." That threat was very serious. That was how they went down from 9 tribe members to 8. He had disobeyed Arthur's orders to go hunting and went to relax on the beach instead. As small as that may be, no one disobeyed Arthur.

"Aye, sir," everyone mumbled.

"_You don't have to talk to them, anyway,_" Arthur shook his head. "_If you have a problem, you come to me and I will handle it. Do you understand?_"

"Aye, sir."

"_Good_," Arthur nodded and walked past them. "_Do you know where they are_?"

"_Overnight they went to their giant piece of wood_," one of them reported.

"Ship_,_" Arthur stated, not knowing why he knew what that meant.

"Ship?" everyone asked.

"_They went on their _ship_,_" he continued. "Jonathan_ saw them come back not too long ago_."

"_I'm going to watch them_," Arthur stated and started walking to the forest. "_Which part of the island?_"

"_Straight ahead_."

"_Good, _Jonathan_, you come with me_," Arthur stated.

"Aye, sir," Jonathan stated and started walking with him. "_So, you think they're here for us?_"

"_I know they are_," Arthur affirmed. Once they made it into the jungle, both of them leapt into the trees, but with their way of communicating, they could still talk as they made their way through the trees.

"_What do they want from us_?"

"_I'm not quite sure yet_," Arthur paused slightly in a tree when he thought he heard someone moving below them, but only saw a pig. "_All I know is that I've been missing._" He kept moving.

"_Missing from what_?"

"_That's all I know_," Arthur stopped again because now he was sure he saw people walking around. "_Here they are_," Arthur said quietly and Jonathan stopped, a little ways from him. The men were talking below them, and Arthur could hear Alfred among them.

"How the hell do they know how to work their way around this damn jungle!" some other man groaned out.

"Do I need to repeat 10 years to you again?" Alfred sighed. "I'm sure, if we walk around enough, we can find them. I need to see if I can talk to him again." He let out a cough. To the other men on the ground, it must have seemed normal, and they forgot about it. But Arthur knew that cough all too well.

"What's so important about him?" someone demanded. Arthur was totally lost on this whole conversation, but some of those words stuck out to him, like he should know them. He did know them…It was practically terrifying.

"He's Arthur Kirkland!" Alfred nearly yelled at him. "It may not seem like it, but he is. I need to help him realize it as fast as poss-" he was cut off by a new series of coughs. He placed a hand on a tree, like it was helping him keep himself up. Arthur nearly felt an urge to go and help him. That cough was the only sign of the disease that plagued this island. It had killed off three of his tribe members, including his best friend. No one was immune to it, but after a while, they found a pretty simple way of getting rid of it, at least for a while.

"Does this island have some kind of a disease or something?" someone asked.

"I don't know," Alfred shook his head, still leaning on that tree. The color was slowly draining from his face. Arthur leaned forward slightly. When you get this disease, it doesn't take long at all for it to fully affect you. "It can't be fatal, though, if they've survived."

"Didn't they have a crew of 30 some men?" someone asked. "From what I can count, there's 8 now."

"Some of them must have stayed bac-" Alfred suddenly went into a coughing fit and leaved over to even try to support himself.

"Jesus Christ, captain," someone looked like they were going to try to comfort him, but stayed back. It was obvious he was getting scared, too.

"_I can't watch this_," Arthur stated.

"_Wait! Chief!_" Jonathan called to him, but Arthur had already jumped down from the tree, startling everyone but Alfred, who was busy coughing.

Arthur glared at them for a bit, pointing the tip of his spear at the ground, and then turned around, towards Alfred. Jonathan jumped down next to him as Alfred finally stopped coughing. With his help, Arthur got Alfred's arm over his and Jonathan's shoulders.

"Hey! Don't you touch him!" someone yelled.

Arthur quickly turned around, slightly careful to make sure Alfred stayed upright. He pointed his spear at the closest person, narrowing his eyes.

"No," Arthur glared at them before quickly turning around as Alfred started coughing again. They started walking slowly and Arthur heard the men behind him moving to follow them. Arthur sighed, shaking his head. It took him a little bit to come up with a word to say. He had no idea how he knew this word, but it should work. "Stay." He commanded them and they all stopped, probably in stunned silence that he knew their language.

"Wh-wha-" Alfred tried to say, but another series of coughs cut him off.

"_Why are we helping him_?" Jonathan asked, looking very agitated.

"_He needs it_," Arthur looked straight ahead, into the jungle. They were going back to their small village.

"_But he's not our problem_," Jonathan tried to convince him.

"_I know what happens with this_," Arthur stated.

"_I know we lost _Maxwell _to this but-_"

"_That's all the reason I need to help him_," Arthur said. "_I'm sure you were there when I vowed not lot lose another man to this_."

"_Fine_," Jonathan gave up.

"_I trust you will get the flower_?" Arthur asked.

"Aye, sir," Jonathan nodded.

* * *

Alfred didn't remember blacking out. So, it surprised him a lot when he found himself waking up on the ground. He immediately tried sitting up, but that started out a long stream of coughs and he had to lie down, he felt so weak.

"Damn," he muttered, his voice a little hoarse. He looked around where he was and found that it was definitely not his ship. It looked almost like a small house and he was lying on something soft, but he wasn't quite sure exactly what. He could easily see lush grass all over the ground. He stopped looking, though, when he saw Arthur was sitting near the door, almost a sleep, with his spear resting on his crossed legs.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked loudly and Arthur's eyes snapped open, looking him over. Alfred looked around some more. "Wh-where?" He decided to try to keep what he was saying simple, so Arthur could understand him.

Arthur looked at the ground, like he was trying to figure out what to say. Alfred let him take his time, mostly because he let out a long series of coughs that felt like they were destroying his insides.

"Home…" Arthur muttered and Alfred looked at him. He definitely hadn't learned that word from them, that must have been him remembering. Then, Arthur looked like he suddenly remembered something and set his spear to the side. He quickly crawled over to Alfred and he noticed that Arthur was holding a light pink flower that was slightly yellow on the inside. It was holding water. Arthur searched for a word again, but he obviously couldn't find it, so he settled for acting it out.

He pointed at Alfred and then brought the flower to his lips, but didn't drink the water inside.

"Drink?" Alfred asked. Arthur nodded and handed him the flower, which he shakily took. "What is it?"

Arthur shook his head, looking at the ground. Alfred figured he didn't know how to explain it to him.

"I trust you," Alfred looked down at the flower before drinking the water inside. It was sweet and very pleasing to his now sore throat. He let out a small cough as it went down, but still smiled at it. "Thank you."

Arthur nodded.

"My men," Alfred was slowly able to prop himself up on his elbows. "Where?"

Arthur just looked at him in confusion.

"Where," Alfred put one hand over his eyes and looked around the hut. "My men," he placed his open hand on his chest. Arthur shrugged and shook his head. "You don't know?" Arthur slowly registered what he just said and then nodded. He let out another cough, but it turned into several others. "Am I sick?"

"Sick?" Arthur asked. It seemed like he almost knew what that word meant.

So, Alfred tried to help him out. He nodded, put his fist in front of his mouth and let out a fake cough. "Sick."

Arthur nodded. "Sick." Alfred slowly laid back down. It must have been an island disease. And they knew all about it, so he must be in safe hands. That must have been some kind of island remedy for it.

Arthur shifted slightly, picking up something behind him and then turning around. He held out that missing poster to Alfred, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. He bit his lip, like he was trying to come up with the right word.

"Long?" Arthur asked.

"How long?" Alfred asked. Arthur thought it through and slowly nodded. "How long were you missing?"

"Y-Yes," Arthur stuttered out, nodding.

"10 years," Alfred said simply, but Arthur looked at him with a blank stare. "10," Alfred held up all ten of his fingers. Arthur copied him, staring at his own fingers.

"10," he recited, like he was a kid trying to learn English.

"Uh, years," Alfred tried putting his hands sideways, close to each other and then separating them. He didn't quite know if that was working, but Arthur slowly nodded, like he was slowly getting it.

"Long…" Arthur muttered, dropping his hands.

"Yes, very long," Alfred nodded, letting out a few coughs.

Arthur started to talk to himself in that odd language of clicks, grunts, and whistles and Alfred was at a loss as to what to do. But, Arthur suddenly put a hand to his head and he winced in pain. He even let out a groan.

"Headache?" Alfred asked. Arthur looked at him for a while before he nodded again.

"Sleep," he muttered quietly and crawled back to where he was before, resuming his earlier position, even picking up his spear. He closed his eyes and it almost seemed like he was meditating, praying to some God…

Alfred shook his head. These people probably gave up on believing in a God a long time ago.

* * *

_Arthur was laughing. He was sitting at a small table with very few people sitting at it, eating an extravagant meal. And he was laughing_

"_I haven't even gotten to the best part, mon ami," Francis laughed next to him._

"_How the bloody hell do you come up with these stories?" Arthur slowly calmed down._

"_You'll come up with plenty in a few weeks," Francis nudged him lightly in the side._

"_What are you talking about?" Arthur asked._

"_Well, Arthur," another person cleared his throat. It was his dad. "We just received word of a promotion for you."_

"_It really is a wonderful promotion!" his mother tittered next to his father._

"_Well, what is it?" Arthur asked, turning to Francis for help._

"_You know that spot of ocean between the Americas and Australia?" Francis smirked._

"_The only unfinished part of the map?" Arthur asked._

"_I was able to pull a few strings," Francis said proudly, picking up his glass of wine. "You and a crew will be set out in a few weeks to chart it."_

"_What?" Arthur's jaw dropped. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would be given a job as great as this! "You better not be joking, Francis."_

"_Would I lie to my best friend?" Francis laughed._

"_You're amazing, you bloody frog!" Arthur yelled and, despite his better judgment, wrapped the Frenchman in a tight hug. It was slightly awkward, considering they were both in chairs, but Arthur didn't care. This was possibly the best day of his life._

"_Well, I did not expect this reaction from you," Francis said and now it was his turn to burst out laughing._

"_Don't get cocky now," Arthur scoffed and sat upright, straightening himself out. That night was filled with smiles and laughs, as far as Arthur can remember. And it went on for quite a while. If Arthur remembered correctly, he woke up with a horrible hangover._

* * *

**Bah, this is a little later in the day than it should have been. That can accumulate to the fact that I had to go to a club today, and I had homework, and I was helping with my sister's baby, and my mom had to get a ring appraised and...life...that's what happened. Anyway, Alfred has been saved from the cough! I just needed a reason for the two to get closer, and you got to see what happened to those remaining islanders and what's happened to a few of them. Any of you guys remember Jonathan from the first few chapters? That kid's a survivor!**

**Anywho, review, please!**


	6. Old Friend

Alfred was more or less cured of the illness in a day. A day filled with awkward conversations and Arthur asking questions about why Alfred was searching for him. But, eventually, Arthur had to let him go back to his crew, who were growing increasingly worried. Arthur told Alfred where to find that flower and awkwardly instructed him to fill it with freshwater, just in case anyone else got sick.

But, now, Arthur was bored. It happened all the time, in all honesty. He would get dreadfully bored and would chose to either sleep or walk to the highest point of the island to look out at the sea. And, since he was getting tired of sleeping, he started walking. He took his time, not bothering to use the trees, and the only sound around him were his bare feet padding on the tropical grass.

Eventually, he made it to the hill and easily climbed the large tree at the top. His head poked over all of the other trees as he calmly looked out to the ocean. He never really liked it, in all honesty. Sure, it kept people away, but it also kept him here. It would be interesting to see what was on those other small islands he could barely see from even here.

He sighed and turned around, to see the open ocean on the other side, but froze when he saw what was out there. It was a ship. Not Alfred's ship, that was on the other side. And it didn't have a black flag with a skull and crossbones sewn into it. Arthur stood there for a while, staring at the ship. It was obvious that it was about to dock, probably curious as to what another ship was doing there, in the "middle of nowhere."

Thinking quickly, Arthur disappeared into the trees, quickly jumping between them to try and find Alfred and his crew. He had to tell them. He didn't know why, but he just knew that that ship was bad news. It sparked something inside him that put him massively on edge. This would not be good.

It didn't take long to find them, they were very loud, after all. He quickly jumped down from a tree and in front of their group, which had just been walking. But they all stopped when they saw him.

"Alfred," Arthur stated, looking right at Alfred.

"Back off!" someone shouted and Arthur noticed that they all had sharp, pointed (and very shiny) objects pointed at him. Arthur rolled his eyes and held up his empty hands, glaring at them.

"What is it?" Alfred asked, waving at his men to put their weapons down.

Arthur had no idea what he just said, but it sounded like a question, probably asking why he was there.

"Ship," Arthur stated and the people behind Alfred started chatting behind him.

"Mine?" Alfred asked, putting a hand to his chest.

Arthur shook his head. He struggled to find the right word, but the first one that came to his mind would have to do. "Bad ship."

"How can you tell?" Alfred asked but Arthur shook his head. He couldn't understand him. "What makes it bad?"

Arthur tried to go through in his head what on earth he could possibly say to help get his point across.

"Black…flag," Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly in concentration. He couldn't think up the next word, though. So he settled for pointing at his head, poking his skull.

"Skull?" Alfred asked and Arthur nodded. Finally, the crew turned quiet.

"Skull," Arthur repeated.

"Crossbones?" Alfred crossed his arms over each other. Arthur nodded again. "Oh, shit," Alfred swore and then the entire group started running back to the beach. Or…that general direction. Arthur sighed, they hadn't been on this island very long and didn't quite know their way around it yet.

Arthur quickly hopped back into the trees and quickly made his way back to his little village. He found that he always moved quicker in the trees than if he tried to run.

He quickly made it there, and interrupted what looked like a conversation between three of them, who were sitting by the fire. The other four seemed to just be coming back from hunting, as all of them were carrying one leg of a dead pig.

"A bad ship is coming," Arthur reported. It took a while and the puzzled looks of his tribe members for him to realize that he just spoke in English. "_What?_" he stared down at himself, like it was some kind of a disease.

"_What did you say, chief?_" Jonathan, who was by the fire, asked.

"_A bad _ship_ is coming,_" Arthur stated. "_I don't know how it's bad, but I can just tell_."

"_What do we do_?"

"_Did those intruders bring them_?"

"Alfred_ didn't bring them_," Arthur narrowed his eyes. "_I've already told them and they are preparing. We should, too._"

"_Prepare for what_?"

"Battle," Arthur stated. He didn't know it was in English, and apparently neither did the tribe members, because they all dove for their best spears and were soon headed towards the beach where Arthur assumed Alfred and his crew were headed.

* * *

Alfred shifted uncomfortably, watching from the beach as the pirate ship neared his ship. There was nothing he could do. If they decided to sink his ship, he would just have to sit and watch as he, too, was marooned here with just a longboat.

"What do we do, sir?"

"I don't know," Alfred bit his lip. The ship was just sitting there, right next to his, with probably more than half his crew still on it. "We just have to sit and watch…"

"But, there has to be something we can do."

"Can you swim that far quick enough to stop them?" Alfred asked. "Because the long boat won't get there in time and-" He was cut off by a thundering boom and immediately turned his attention back to his ship. He could already see members of his crew jumping off and trying to swim to shore as he saw splintered wood scatter the clear water. There was another boom and Alfred winced. They were obviously doing this slowly, knowing they were here.

It was probably 20 minutes before he watched his ship go down, and then they all watched as the pirates dropped a longboat and a few of them piled in. Including, as far as Alfred could tell from the long red coat, their captain.

"They're coming to meet us," Alfred stated, getting the pistol he had tucked in the back of his trousers and pulling it out. "Let's just make sure we're ready, got it?"

"Sir," someone stated. "T-Turn around." Alfred quickly obeyed and saw that Arthur was standing, with a few of the other "savages" around him, just outside of the jungle. They were all armed with spears. Arthur looked out, into the ocean and then back at Alfred.

"Help," he said, but it sounded a little bit like a question. Alfred smiled and nodded. He could use some help and it could do Arthur some good, fighting pirates.

"Thank you," Alfred smiled and looked back at the pirates, who were getting closer. When he turned back to look at Arthur, he and his crew had already disappeared again, into the jungle.

"That English of his is so amazing," one of Alfred's crew scoffed.

"10 years," Alfred sighed, repeating himself for probably the thousandth time. He turned back to the ocean, watching as their longboat steered straight towards them. "Okay, so we need to make sure that Arthur and his crew don't need to interfere until the very last minute. If those pirates see them, and recognize him, then we'll be in a world of trouble."

"So, we protect them with our lives so that they'll be stuck here even longer?" someone asked.

"I'm not quite sure Arthur understands the situation right now," Alfred sighed. The pirates were really close now. "If he makes a wrong move, he'll be a prisoner and then it'll be even harder for him to adjust back to normal."

"Hola!" a cheerful voice called to them and Alfred's attention snapped to the longboat. He nearly felt like giving up right then and there. This was Carriedo, probably the most famous pirate on the seven seas. He could tell from all the wanted posters that were in nearly every town he'd been to. Shaggy brown hair, fearsome green eyes, incredibly tanned from being out on the ocean day after day. And Spanish. Alfred had never really seen him in person, but he'd heard multiple descriptions of him before.

"You sunk my ship," Alfred sighed as their longboat reached the shore and the band of probably 10 pirates loaded off.

"You should be happy, señor," Carriedo smirked, taking off his hat and bowing. "I am giving you a chance to be as famous as Arthur Kirkland!" Alfred winced slightly.

"Well, thank you, then, Carriedo," Alfred sighed.

"You know me, then," Carriedo laughed. "It's a shame I don't think I know you."

"Jones," Alfred stated.

"Well, then, Jones," Carriedo put his hat back on his head. "I only came on this island to see the reason you're on it. Then I will just let you stay and rot away, like mi amigo, Kirkland."

"We were low on supplies," Alfred lied easily. "I didn't know you knew Ar-Kirkland." Alfred winced at his slip-up. Carriedo seemed to notice.

"You were about to call him by his first name," Carriedo walked towards him. "I didn't know anyone was that close to him. Especially now."

"It's easier calling him Arthur on my ship, than Kirkland," Alfred said with a wave of his free hand, the one holding his gun going to cock it.

"Is that so?" Carriedo looked at the island. "This is about the spot he'd gone missing, si?"

"I haven't looked at a map for a little bit, I'm afraid," Alfred stated. Carriedo stopped walking now that they were about a foot away from each other.

"It would be quite amazing if he was found alive," Carriedo smiled. "The reward has gone up as of yesterday."

"Has it?" Alfred asked. The reward was already high enough, why would they keep raising it?

"The things I could do with that money," Carriedo shook his head. "If I found Kirkland, that would probably be the only time I wouldn't want to kill him on sight."

"So you two have history?" Alfred asked. It seemed like all that was going to happen was talk, unless Alfred was stupid enough to slip up again.

"10 years ago, he was my only rival," Carriedo shrugged. "I've been pretty bored without him around."

"Hasn't Bonnefroy been taking his place for the time he's been missing?" Alfred asked.

"He's French," Carriedo laughed. "Hardly a challenge."

"Alright, I can see that," Alfred put his free hand up in surrender.

"Well, since I doubt there is anything of interest on this island," Carriedo swiftly turned around, "I will be leaving."

"See, that's one thing I won't let you do," Alfred sighed, finally pointing his gun at Carriedo, and making sure it touched the back of his head so he wouldn't move.

"You are not Kirkland, señor," Carriedo sighed. "Don't try to act like a hero."

* * *

**Okay, so last chapter I had a guest talk about how I needed a trigger. I understand it completely. It's just really funny that they said that while this chapter was the next one. You see, I mainly write chapters in advance, so it's pretty funny someone talked about needing a trigger while I put in Antonio just for said reason. And a ride, now that Alfred's ship is sunk. Also, something to know about this Antonio, I imagine his pirate self to be a little more…hardcore, I guess. Like a little more badass and cruel, I guess. You'll see the more cruel side of him later, I promise! But, yeah, trigger, mans!**

**Please review! It's totally awesome of you! Big shout out to that guest for giving an actually really good idea~!**


	7. Captive

Arthur sat in a tree, his tribe members scattered around behind him. He was trying to figure out what those two were saying. He heard his name a few times. And the world "Kirkland" which he seemed to relate to his name. They were just talking and it seemed like a simple conversation. Except this newcomer seemed very cocky.

Arthur instantly hated this newcomer. He felt like he knew him and just seeing him made him grit his teeth. Who was he…? He kept on hearing the name Carriedo, and that sounded familiar, so he just stuck to calling him Carriedo in his head.

Another name that seemed familiar that was brought up once was Bonnefroy. Arthur didn't know the connection he had with that name, but it seemed extremely familiar.

Carriedo suddenly turned around to go back to his small ship and get to his big ship, and Arthur thought he would just leave. That would have been perfectly fine to Arthur, but it did occur to him that Alfred wouldn't have a way back to his home. He apparently didn't have to worry, though, because Alfred pointed something at Carriedo's head. This made everyone freeze. Alfred's group froze because they didn't know what to do and Carriedo's group out of pure shock, like no one would even dream of doing that to someone like him.

They kept on talking after that, everyone practically frozen in place, but Arthur was too far away to hear them. They were staying in the jungle now to have at least some sort of element of surprise. Arthur wouldn't come out until it was absolutely necessary.

Now, though, Carriedo started speaking loudly, and started walking directly towards them.

"I'm starting to think you're protecting something, Jones," he said loudly, and Arthur could slightly understand him. Some of the others behind him shifted uncomfortably, they understood a little bit of it, too.

"_Be ready_…" Arthur communicated quietly. Carriedo was slowly walking towards them and Arthur looked back at Alfred, who had a couple sharp, pointed objects pointed at him. The word swords stood out in Arthur's mind of what to call those things.

"There's really nothing you would find important in there!" Alfred called out to him. He seemed to be standing calmly, but Arthur could just faintly tell that he was twitching slightly. Alfred didn't want Carriedo to get him… Did this have something to do with that paper with his face on it? Was Carriedo looking for him, too?

"I might as well find supplies, then," Carriedo replied and entered the jungle, just below Arthur and his tribe members. He looked around slowly and, finding nothing, moved further in.

"_Attack?_" someone asked.

"_No_," Arthur shook his head, looking down at him. This would require some stealth… "_Is there a pig nearby?_"

"_There's a small family a little down the ways_," someone replied.

"Jonathan, James_, go and get the pigs to charge at him_," Arthur ordered.

"Aye, sir," they said quietly and quickly made their ways through the trees to the pigs. Arthur looked out, to the beach and studied it for a short time.

"_He is there leader_," Arthur stated, telling what he was thinking to his tribe members. "_If we catch him, they should give up easily enough._"

"_So, what do we do_?"

"_When the pigs charge, he will come back this way_," Arthur informed. "_When he does, we surround him, but deep enough so no one sees. We keep him quiet_."

"Aye, sir," everyone nodded.

They waited patiently, listening for the squeal of a pig that would mean he was coming back. Eventually, they heard it and braced themselves, ready to jump down. But, the pig ran out, stumbling onto the sand for a bit before turning around and coming back. There was no sign of Carriedo…

"Where is he?" Arthur muttered, not even noticing he spoke in English.

Eventually, he did walk out, happily marching, and dragging Jonathan and James behind him by their hair. Arthur felt himself growl as he narrowed his eyes.

Carriedo spoke something happily to himself, something Arthur couldn't even begin to understand, like a whole new language that wasn't English or his.

"_Drop_," Arthur commanded. "_Now._" He and the five others dropped down from the trees all around him, in a circle and pointing spears right at him. Carriedo seemed a little surprised at the situation at first, looking around at everyone. But, when his eyes rested on Arthur, his face broke out into a smile.

"Ai Dios mio!" he started bursting out laughing, letting go of Jonathan and James. If Arthur had been smarter, he would have just had everyone go back into the trees and disappear. But he was curious. Carriedo stepped forward, "Kirkland?" Arthur pointed his spear at his chest, making sure he couldn't get any closer. "10 years have not been kind to you!" he started laughing again.

"Shut up," Arthur glared at him. The words just slipped off his tongue, he wasn't even aware he said them.

Carriedo stopped laughing to just smirk. "I can't say I like that look on you." In a motion hardly anyone saw, he was behind Arthur, pulling hard on his hair. Arthur gasped in pain, nearly dropping his spear. But he quickly collected himself and just gritted his teeth, wincing slightly in pain. "So much hair, Kirkland. You almost look like Bonnefroy."

Arthur looked back at his tribe members, his family, and saw that they were all holding their spears down, so this Carriedo wouldn't hurt their leader. After all, they probably wouldn't be where they are now without him.

"I can fix that, don't worry," Carriedo sighed and Arthur could barely see him pull out a sword before it swiped towards his head. Arthur winced and tried to move, but all that happened was he felt a lot of pressure release from his head and he dropped onto his hands and knees. When his head pointed down, though, he didn't see his long, blonde hair like usual. Before he could even move again, though, he felt Carriedo grip onto his hair, which was apparently now so short that his nails clawed into his scalp.

"If you want him alive," Carriedo talked to the other members in Arthur's tribe, "I suggest you follow me."

"_Follow_," Arthur muttered and Carriedo glanced at him with piqued interest.

Carriedo started walking then, and Arthur gripped his hand with both of his to make sure his hair didn't get pulled out of his scalp.

"Look who I found!" he announced happily as they emerged onto the beach.

"Arthur!" Alfred's voice was far louder than the confused crowd that tried asking questions.

"You are a liar," Carriedo smirked at Alfred. Arthur glanced over at him and saw that now he had several swords pointed at him so that he wouldn't move.

"Let him go, Carriedo," Alfred growled.

"And what will you do?" Carriedo laughed. "Now, I will be taking you two back with me."

"Why me?" Alfred asked.

"You're highly ranked," Carriedo looked him over. "And if neither of you two cause any trouble, both of your crews can come, too."

"How generous of you," Alfred scoffed, but Arthur had no idea what was going on, or what was being said. It was all happening far too fast for him.

Carriedo started speaking in that other weird language and his own men started scurrying around. Two of them led Alfred to their small ship and the rest went to Alfred's men and Arthur's tribe. Arthur's hair was yanked, leading him to be shoved into the boat, too. He was about to move, but saw a sword pointed right at his chest and then felt one point at his back.

Alfred was about to say something, probably to help Arthur figure out what was going on, but a cloth was promptly shoved into his mouth, making him stay quiet.

"No talking," Carriedo stated and hopped into the middle of the small ship, between Arthur and Alfred, facing Arthur. "I wouldn't have to worry too much about that with you, though, Kirkland."

Arthur had honestly no idea what to do. He flinched quite a lot when the small ship started moving and rocking about. He gripped on tightly to his wooden seat and Carriedo was laughing again. Arthur was very happy that he wasn't saying anything anymore. He was starting to get very nauseous, too, with the rocking.

He closed his eyes tightly, he just wanted things to go back to normal. Or, the normal he was used to.

* * *

Alfred hated being in this position. It was obvious Carriedo was just messing with Arthur at this point. He was _laughing_ at him. While it was obvious to Alfred that Arthur was freaking out. His eyes were shut tight and he was gripping onto his seat as if for dear life. It had been 10 years since he had gone out to sea…

His hair did look a lot more like what he looked like on the wanted poster. His hair was jagged and it did seem a little off in multiple places, and he could even see it shaking as he trembled.

Alfred had plenty of trouble trying to think of a plan to get them out of this. Counting the people Alfred had and Arthur's men, he had 17 people to go up against the most feared pirate crew in the world. He would need a miracle…

Soon, they stopped next to Carriedo's ship and his crew were working on getting them up, on deck. Orders and replies in Spanish were flying everywhere and Alfred was at a loss for what to do. Now he knew how Arthur must feel. Then again, now Arthur was suspended in the air in a small, wooden boat.

When they got to the top, Alfred was forced off the longboat first and almost immediately had swords and pistols aimed right at him. He slowly put his hands up, over his head, to show his surrender. Carriedo and Arthur came onto the deck next and Carriedo immediately led Arthur across the deck and probably to the captain's quarters. On his way, he shouted something in Spanish to the crew and Alfred was led to some door.

When it was opened, he saw stairs and assumed that he was headed to a brig of some sort. It was dark and damp, but he easily got around. He was pretty much used to the rocking of the ship from his (admittedly, short) experience. He was led around for a while, occasionally being poked by a sword or a pistol.

Sure enough, he was eventually led into a room with bars making small boxes all around it. He was promptly shoved into one of them and didn't even fight when the door was closed. Now that he could move at least slightly freely, he removed that cloth from his mouth and let it drop to the ground, which he noticed had some water filling it.

The crew left him and Alfred tried shaking the bars a little bit, but they didn't budge. He let out a heavy sigh.

"Plan…" he started slowly pacing. Carriedo was keeping him because of what he could get for ransom. In all honesty, Alfred wasn't worth that much. He was just sailing from Japan to the United States and he got lost. He merely stumbled upon Arthur by accident…

Alfred groaned and leaned his back against the bars. He was actually getting pretty far with Arthur, and Carriedo was probably ruining him right now…

"Plan…"

* * *

**And here we go! They're on a ship now and I feel really bad for poor Arthur. First he gets laughed at, then he's dragged onto a boat, and he's definitely not used to the rocking of the sea. Now, who knows what Carriedo's doing. Hehe...Anyway! How do you guys think they get out of this one? I know, but I'm curious what you guys think.**

**Please review!**


	8. Reality

Eventually, Carriedo did come to pay Alfred a visit. It was far after Alfred's crew had been loaded into the other cages in the brig. And it was far after they felt the ship start to move with the wind. His crew kept on asking him what he was going to do. He just simply told them that he had it handled and that was that. He wasn't about to tell them that he had no clue what to do and they might have a chance of dying.

When he heard footsteps coming towards them, he made everyone go quiet. He still stood calmly, for some reason calming his crew at least slightly calmed himself. Eventually, though, the boisterous Spaniard made his way into the room, smiling brightly.

"Buenos dias, amigos!" Carriedo said happily. Alfred stayed quiet, just staring at him. "Why so quiet?"

"What have you done to Arthur?" Alfred asked. Arthur had to be his number one priority, he had to make sure he was safe.

"Given him proper clothes," Carriedo shrugged, smirking as he walked in front of Alfred's bars and looked at him. "Took a while of coaxing, did you know he doesn't speak English anymore?"

"He's been there for 10 years," Alfred sighed. "He's gonna forget some things."

"So, why are you so close to Kirkland?" Carriedo asked.

"He trusts me and I trust him," Alfred said simply.

"He's hardly human anymore," Carriedo laughed. "I doubt he knows what trust is."

"He's probably more human than you are," Alfred stated, slightly hoping to get a reaction from it. And he could tell he got one by the way Carriedo narrowed his eyes.

"You know, I have to bring Kirkland back unharmed for all the money he's worth," Carriedo said, a dangerous edge to his voice. "But that won't be required for you."

"You don't scare me," Alfred stated.

"That is a shame, mi amigo," Carriedo sighed. He quickly pulled out some keys and unlocked the cage Alfred was in. Alfred took a small step back so as not to be hit in the face by the door. Before he knew what was happening, Carriedo gripped onto his shirt and pulled him forward. "You should be."

"Still not," Alfred retorted.

Carriedo opened his mouth to reply, but both of their attentions were snatched away when they heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

"Let him go," a voice warned and Alfred couldn't help but smile. Alfred looked over at Arthur, who he knew would be over there. He was dressed in a Royal Navy uniform, which he had no doubt that Carriedo stole a long time ago, and was holding a pistol so that it was aimed more or less at Carriedo.

"So you remember how to hold a gun," Carriedo scoffed.

"I know how to shoot," Arthur said, seeming to have a few troubles with some of the words.

Carriedo let out a laugh, but just looking at Arthur told Alfred that he did know what he was doing. He was a Naval captain back in the day…

"I doubt that," Carriedo chuckled.

Arthur glared at him for a bit, pointed the pistol upwards, and let out a shot right through the ceiling. Everyone jumped, including Arthur, but he kept a straight face, and pointed the pistol back at Carriedo.

"Let him go," Arthur repeated himself.

Carriedo slowly put his hands up in surrender and slowly stepped away from Alfred.

"Still don't scare me," Alfred grinned. He noticed that the keys Carriedo was holding were still in his hands and quickly snatched them from him. "Now, if you would do me the favor of stepping into this cage…"

Arthur nodded in agreement and pointed the gun at the cage for a quick second before focusing it back on Carriedo.

"You won't be getting all of my crew so easily with such few men," Carriedo scoffed, stepping into the cage.

"Then how did Arthur get here?" Alfred asked and then held out his hand. "Weapons, please. Unless you would like to get shot."

Carriedo glared at him for a little bit before he handed him a sword.

"That's it?" Alfred asked.

"I have…his gun," Arthur stated.

"Sweet," Alfred nodded and slammed the door closed, swiftly locking it. "You can drop the gun now." Arthur slowly nodded and pointed the gun at the ground. Alfred nodded and quickly went to getting his few crew members left out of the other three cages. "Okay, important question." Alfred looked back at Arthur. "How did you manage to get here?"

Arthur smiled slightly and motioned for him to follow him up the stairs. Alfred followed, he and his crew close behind him. When they made it onto the deck, Alfred was slightly blinded by the sunlight for a second before he could accurately look around. There were Arthur's men, not looking so much like savages anymore. They were dressed in simple clothes, sure, but they looked more like men than they did before. They all seemed to have gotten the same haircut as Arthur, looking like proper men all of a sudden.

The men were holding what Alfred supposed were Carriedo's crew's guns at the small huddle of pirates on the deck.

"What, did you do a sneak attack on them or something?" Alfred laughed as his own crew looked at them in confusion.

"Sneak attack," Arthur recited and then slowly nodded.

"Okay," Alfred nodded and clapped his hands together. This would prove to be so much better than he thought. "My men, help them get all these guys to the brig and lock 'em with these keys," he tossed the keys to some random guy. "I'm going to…" he looked around and saw that no one was holding onto the wheel. "Steer."

Everyone slowly started doing what they were told as Alfred started for the wheel. Arthur stumbled behind him, seeming to have a slightly hard time working with the boat rocking.

"Okay," Alfred sighed, grabbing the wheel to make sure it didn't move them around anymore. He pulled out his compass, which Arthur stared at in slight wonder. Alfred smiled slightly. "Compass," he said to Arthur who looked at him for a while.

"Compass," Arthur smiled back.

"Look," Alfred heaved a heavy sigh. "I know this is confusing, but I'm bringing you home. But, not the island, do you understand that?"

"Home…" Arthur muttered.

"You've been there a long time," Alfred stated. "Do you remember Great Britain?"

Arthur looked at him for a while, like he was trying to register what he just said. "Home…R-Right?"

"Yes," Alfred nodded. "I'm taking you there. People miss you. You've been gone for a very long time."

"But…" Arthur looked at the floor. "I don't…act…"

"We can work on it," Alfred smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder, which made Arthur look up. "We have a long time before we get there."

"Proper," Arthur mumbled and Alfred tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion. It was almost like he was finishing his last sentence.

"You remember being proper, yeah?" Alfred asked him and Arthur nodded. "Then it won't be that hard to get there again. Your crew will learn, too."

Arthur nodded again. "Dreams…" he said suddenly, like it was a sudden idea.

"What?" Alfred asked, but his head was a little distracted. He had to set them a course to England soon, or at least where he assumed it would be, since he had been below decks for this long.

"To…help me talk," Arthur said. "I can tell…"

"Me about your dreams?" Alfred finished for him, seeing he was having troubles. "That's a great idea. First, though, I need to make sure we're going in the right direction." He looked back up at the ship and noticed the jolly roger was flying as their flag. "And take down that pirate flag…"

* * *

It had taken a few days for Arthur to get used to the ship. The layout and the rocking of it. He stayed away from that place below decks Carriedo would be and mainly stayed around Alfred. All of the things this captain did seemed very familiar to Arthur. The way he would walk around the ship and tell people to do this and that. The way he would occasionally steer the ship to make sure they were going in the right direction. The way he would slump over a map in his room to try and figure out where they were.

That was where they were now. Arthur was watching Alfred with admiration as he looked over that map again and again. Arthur was sitting on a simple stool in front of the table while Alfred was standing.

"Where…are we?" Arthur asked, leaning over the map he could only slightly understand.

"I think we're somewhere close to South America?" Alfred sighed, running a hand through his hair. Arthur had gotten a little better with English as it slowly came back to him. He could easily understand Alfred, it was just talking that was still a little tricky. "I'm sure he already had a plan to get us to England, but when no one was at the wheel, we turned in a few directions. I have no idea where we are… I don't know this part of the ocean very well."

"We…" Arthur tried to remember the right words to say. "We will get there."

"Thanks," Alfred smiled weakly at him. "You…uh…you want to tell me about another dream?"

Arthur smiled. "Yes," he nodded. Talking about these dreams was good for a couple of reasons. Sure, it helped him with his English and remembering the twenty years of his life he almost forgot. But it always made Alfred a little happier. He had been stressed for a while, mostly because they hadn't been near land except for small islands for the whole week they had been at sea.

"I had a…friend," Arthur began, at first having some troubles picking the right word for this person. "Um, F-Francis is his name, I think." He talked really slowly, but that was expected considering he was relearning an entire language. "He was…annoying…French."

"Francis Bonnefroy?" Alfred asked. Arthur nodded. "He was the first person to guess that you were missing, considering you were gone for so long. From what I've heard, you two were almost inseparable, except for the fact that you seemed like you hated him."

"He shows up a lot," Arthur laughed slightly, letting the smile linger. "He told me I was…I was to chart the sea. He was at a party before I left, trying…to make me have fun."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you when you come back," Alfred smiled. "It's been 10 years since he's seen his best friend."

"It's…partially my fault," Arthur muttered. He'd been thinking about this for a while. They had been missing for so long, and that was mostly his fault. Sure, he couldn't help a storm. But, he could have turned them around. He could have tried to stay sane for a little bit longer, for when those people started showing up…

"You couldn't help what happened," Alfred stated. "If anything, you should be pleased with yourself. You made sure your crew was safe for 10 whole years."

"Not all of them…" Arthur mumbled. "Maxwell…"

"I know you lost a lot of people," Alfred sighed. "But you tried."

"Not hard enough…"

"Tell me about Maxwell, then" Alfred stated, leaning over the table with the map.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"You should get it all off your chest," Alfred said. "You're about to go home. You shouldn't have something like this weighing you down before you go there."

"If you want to listen," Arthur stated.

Alfred quickly moved to the other side of the table and sat on top of it, looking at Arthur intently.

"Fine…"

* * *

**Hehe, yay! Story time! I always imagine Arthur as a good story teller, I have no idea why. But, he is making some progress. He can understand English now, it's just speaking it fluently is a little hard. I've learned that whole process of language in French class. I can slightly understand it if I listen to people, but then if I have to come up with something off the top of my head in response, that won't turn out well. Like, at all. So I'm feeling what Arthur is right now.**

**Please review!**


	9. Story Time

"Maxwell was my…first mate," Arthur decided to begin with that. This was one of his most fresh memories, he recalled the entire trip to the island, his crew… "I didn't know him well at first. He was a…ssig…ned to me. We got along pretty well. He helped a lot with the ship when I needed it. When we…" Arthur couldn't figure out the right word to put there and looked at Alfred for help.

"When you sank?" Alfred helped and Arthur nodded.

"When we sank, he helped me get out of the water," Arthur stated. "I…I can't swim…and I was…drown…drowning. He saved me. He helped on the is…land, too. He helped me with everything." Arthur didn't notice it then, but his old voice, from before he was marooned, came back. His "proper Englishman voice" came out and his speaking problems all but disappeared. Alfred noticed, and couldn't help but smile.

"I went to him with all of my doubts, whether someone would find us, whether we would be stuck there forever. People started making bets of how long it would take for us to be saved. I bet 50 shillings on 10 years," Arthur let out a laugh. "He was the last one of us to get sick with that cough you had. I had it, but I was able to live through it, three times, actually. Maxwell, though, was naturally weak to diseases, he told me. We lost him to the disease just before we found out that flower could work as a cure with water. He was the last person we lost to the disease…"

"I'm sorry," Alfred stated, not wanting to tell Arthur about his speech and make him lose it.

"He was my best friend," Arthur muttered. "The only one that knew when I was sick. The only one that knew I thought of every possible thing that could go wrong. And he died."

"What did you do? For the people that died, I mean?" Alfred asked. "What did you do with them?"

"Everyone who died on that island was given a proper burial at sea," Arthur muttered and Alfred sensed a small hidden meaning to that. After all, plenty of other ships had gone missing in these parts and they were, in essence, savages.

"Well," Alfred stood up properly. "I will have you know, that was the best speech pattern I have heard from you."

"What?" Arthur asked, looking up at him in confusion.

"You didn't pause, or have to try and think of the right word," Alfred smiled. "It just, flowed. And you sounded…like what I expect Arthur Kirkland sounded like."

"I did," Arthur muttered and Alfred smiled when he noticed that his voice didn't change.

"I know that must have hurt going through," Alfred knelt on his knee in front of him. "But, it got you to at least remember proper English."

"Thank you for listening, then," Arthur smiled slightly.

"Captain!" someone poked their head into the room. "We've spotted land! Real land!"

"Things sure are looking up," Alfred smiled as the man left, leaving the door open.

"Don't you have a first mate?" Arthur asked, standing up with Alfred.

"No," Alfred shook his head. "Our ship out was kind of sudden and they gave me a crew, apparently completely missing the whole first mate thing."

"A shame," Arthur muttered. "My first mate did me so much good."

"And he'll be remembered well when we get you back home," Alfred smiled at him and left the room.

Arthur stayed behind a little bit, smiling to himself. It was amazing, how Alfred got him to remember how he used to speak. Everything was starting to flood back to him. All of his dreams felt more like memories, and that Francis was starting to seem more and more like a real person.

Alfred was so kind, dealing with him for this long. He'd been admiring the man for quite some time. The more his mind came back to real thoughts, the more he thought about Alfred. He liked him quite a lot, but not at the point of a friend. Almost like something past a friend. Arthur laughed at the thought. Being on that island changed him a lot…He actually thought that way about a man…

Arthur walked out onto the deck, somehow, for once being able to walk easily with the waves.

"Oh, this is perfect!" Alfred shouted out, running happily across the deck. Arthur looked out at the sea and found that there was a wide expanse of land coming up. "It's the Panama Canal!"

Arthur looked up at the main mast of the ship, watching the white flag floundering around. Before he could move, Alfred had wrapped him in a big hug.

"This is so perfect!" Alfred said happily and Arthur couldn't help but blush a bit. "We'll be able to slip right through there and then it's a pretty short ride all the way back to England!"

"Alfred, you can let me go now," Arthur muttered.

"Right," Alfred pulled away and looked back at the land. It was awkwardly quiet for a while, until Arthur finally spoke up again.

"I should go talk to my crew," Arthur stated, turning around. "See how they are with…readjusting…"

"Alright, see you tonight, then," Alfred cheered happily. Arthur shook his head slightly. He was still having problems remembering exactly what his old home was like. He was so used to the sun and trees and fruit. He knew England was far from that. It would rain all the time and he was sure there weren't many fresh fruits around there. He sighed, it would be very hard indeed to get used to that…

* * *

Alfred happily leapt around the deck of the ship. England was nearly in sight now and soon he would get Arthur home and then…

He stopped. What was he going to do after he got Arthur home? That thought hadn't really occurred to him yet… He couldn't just leave Arthur, hoping that he would adjust back into his old life after 10 years of being away from it. Sure he had friends and family there, but Arthur told him that he hardly remembered them, even after the weeks of being on the ocean he had to force himself to remember. Alfred was sure that, with seeing them, he would probably remember slowly.

But there was still the fact that he was going to have problems adjusting, no matter what. There was always going to be something that could trip him up, make him retreat back into the way he was before. And there was no way Alfred, as the hero, would let that happen to anyone. He would have to find some way to make sure he could stay near Arthur. But, he would have to go back to America soon enough. And then there were other assignments he would be sent off on. And that meant he wouldn't be able to be near Arthur enough.

Alfred started subconsciously humming to himself as he started pacing back and forth on the rather large deck. This would prove to be very difficult, the more he thought about it. He wasn't one to look very much into things, but this was _Arthur_. He couldn't just let him be and hope for the best.

"What exactly are you doing?" Arthur's voice asked and Alfred stopped his pacing, looking over at him. He was standing near a mast, his arms crossed over his chest as he had his head tilted slightly to the side, obviously curious as to what had Alfred so worried.

"Pacing," Alfred shrugged. "Obviously."

"Why?" Arthur asked bluntly.

"Um, just thinking about what we'll do," Alfred rubbed the back of his head. "We're about to go into English territory…in a Spanish pirate's ship. So, we just need to make sure we get their attention quick so they know we're friendlies. Can't have you or your crew getting hurt, now can we?"

"I guess not…" Arthur muttered. Alfred smiled slightly at his quick recovery. Arthur's crew had been getting a lot better. Just like Arthur, they still had a little bit to go, but they all spoke proper(more or less) English now and some were remembering their families, wives, and kids.

"Okay," Alfred rubbed his hands together nervously. "I'm going to need you to stay in the cabin until I go in there, alright?"

"Sure," Arthur nodded slowly. "Why, though? If they see me with you right away, won't they welcome you even more?"

"This is a pirate ship, though," Alfred sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "They're known for deceit, you know. They could easily think we're tricking them or holding you captive. That's why, I'll get their attention, soldiers will come on board, I'll lead them below decks, show them Carriedo, and then I'll show them you once they trust me. Well, you and your crew, basically."

"Right…" Arthur nodded slowly.

"Better hurry," Alfred said, looking at where they were heading. They were very close to it now… "I'm gonna head up to the front to try and get their attention."

"Be careful," Arthur sighed and started towards Alfred's cabin.

"Don't worry, I will be," Alfred smiled back at him for a while before he quickly skipped up to the front of the ship. He could already see people crowding around the docks. Some were reading the name of the ship, others obviously just did that because they were yelling for guards.

Alfred sucked in a deep breath and waited for a few guards to show up. He started waving his arms hugely at them and pointing over at the flag. The soldiers looked a little confused and still stood at the ready. But they weren't shooting at them yet. That was a good sign. The person at the wheel easily managed to dock them in a matter of minutes. Alfred was feeling more and more tense as it went along, more soldiers and more people showed up.

"This is gonna be interesting," Alfred sighed, gripping tightly onto the railing before quickly turning around and going to where his crew were setting up the gang plank. He would have to welcome those soldiers quickly, if his plan was going to work.

* * *

**And bad time skip! Yay! On the bright side, Arthur's remembering things better now. I can imagine him recovering faster than other people, I guess because he is based off the character who is the embodiment of England... Yeah... Sorry for the short-ish chapter, but it had to stop there, because the next bit is a little long, you'll see later.**

**Please review!**


	10. Home

Alfred stood at attention, what he was taught quite a while ago when he was still under the control of a captain. Probably around 6 soldiers came on board, already with guns pointed at them.

"I come in peace," Alfred stated, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Are you aware of the ship you are in possession of?" one of the soldiers asked.

_That would be why I put the white flag up, geniuses… _"Pirate Captain Carriedo's ship," Alfred recited.

"And you do know the risks of sailing this into English waters?" another one asked.

"Yes, I know, but I have something important to show you," Alfred said, a little edge of impatience in his voice.

"Show us proof that you are not working for Carriedo," another one demanded.

_Besides the fact that I'm in an American navy uniform? _"He's in the brig," Alfred sighed. "I can walk with you and show you."

"You will stay up here," the first one, who seemed to be their commander stated. Alfred nodded and three of them went below decks, while three stayed, pointing their guns alternately at Alfred and his crew.

Alfred nearly started tapping his foot with how impatient he was feeling, but refrained from it. Of course they would demand for proof he wasn't working for Carriedo, but Arthur was important, too, dammit!

It seemed to take forever before the three finally came back up.

"Am I free from prosecution?" Alfred asked.

"Put the guns down," the commander stated, giving Alfred his answer. "We will get others to bring him up. How did you gain possession of this ship?"

"He sank mine while my crew and I were on an island," Alfred reported. "We were taken in as prisoner, he was hoping for some kind of reward, and we were able to take the ship. But-"

"You have done a good service, American," the commander placed a hand on his shoulder. "We can give you a ship soon to return you home."

"But that wasn't what you needed to see," Alfred rushed out the words. He tried to recover by adding a "sir" at the end.

"Then, what is that?" the commander asked.

"You'll never believe me unless you see it," Alfred stated. "Just follow me to the cabin."

"Lead the way," the commander said and Alfred nodded before turning around and starting, rather quickly, to the cabin. This was it! Arthur would be home! And get even more back to normal!

Alfred didn't waste any time opening the door once he got there and saw that Arthur was simply looking down at his maps, his back to the door. He perked up slightly upon hearing them come in and turned around, looking at Alfred first, but then at the commander.

"Is that…?" the commander gasped and Alfred grinned slightly.

"Arthur Kirkland," Alfred stated proudly, completely unable to hide his smile now.

* * *

Arthur stared in horror at the massive crowd that was still growing around the ship. He couldn't do this, no way in Hell. He could deal with the 20 men on this ship, sure. He was used to small groups. But this was just utterly terrifying. All of these people…Arthur had failed them. They sent him out to chart something and had just gotten lost.

It's one thing to go missing for a few weeks, maybe months. But this was ten years. He couldn't face this crowd now. Not after all that… He just forgot they all existed…

"Hey," Alfred said quietly behind him and walked up, beside the railing with him. A few people could see them from the ground, and they were pointing excitedly and cheering. "I know it's a little scary at first but-"

"I can't do this," Arthur shook his head, taking a few steps back.

"Relax," Alfred gave a reassuring smile. "I know you can do this."

"No, I can't," Arthur muttered, trying to block out the crowd. "I failed them…I disappeared…I forgot…I just…"

"Arthur," Alfred grabbed onto his shoulders. "Arthur Kirkland, the man who was able to live on a deserted island for 10 years and keep several men alive and healthy. The man who re-learned the English language on a single boat ride. The man that, with a crew of seven, was able to subdue the most feared pirate crew in the world, with hardly any experience. The man that lived through more than hardly anyone can imagine…Is scared?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded. "Back then, I had the instincts of an animal. Carriedo said it himself, I was hardly human. The only thing I thought about was survival and winning."

"And now, you're a proper Englishman that doesn't back down from a fight," Alfred stated. "That's what you tried hard to become."

"I would hardly consider myself anything close to that…" Arthur looked over at the wooden boards of the deck. "Not to mention my crew, who are far behind me."

"Being home will help you remember," Alfred assured him. "There's a lot of people there you know."

"I know that," Arthur sighed. "I know how many people will be waiting for me. My parents, Francis…I just…I don't think I'll be able to look at them."

"Why?" Alfred asked. "Because you came back from the dead? Almost everyone thought you were dead. Don't think about how you failed, because you didn't. Think about how you've done the impossible. You're still the great Captain Arthur Kirkland."

"I hate it when you're right," Arthur sighed, shaking his head. But he cracked a smile anyway. "Thank you…"

"No problem," Alfred smiled. "Now we just need to get the other seven to brave getting off the ship."

"Right," Arthur looked over to his men. They were practically huddled in a little group, looking at the crowd with terror. "Did I really look like such a terrified animal?"

"A little," Alfred laughed. Arthur rolled his eyes and came over to his men.

"Alright," Arthur sighed once he got in front of them, gathering their attention to him. He glanced back at the crowd for a second before turning all of his attention back to his men. They were practically family now… "I know it's scary to even think about going into that crowd of people. It's a world we almost forgot about. But we've been through worse, have we not? They're just people. Some of them are people you actually used to care about." He smiled slightly, thinking about seeing his parents again. He was an adult, but just thinking about them made him smile. "Who knows, they could actually help us out…"

"So!" Alfred leaned an arm on Arthur's shoulder, earning a sharp glare from the smaller man. "Ready to face the world?"

There was a small, unsure murmur that went through Arthur's small crew.

Arthur sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Alright, then." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He switched to the language they used on the island. It was almost like a foreign language now… "_I have already decided, I'll have you know, that all of you are fully suited to be able to step off of this rocking piece of wood and step onto land. So you will all follow me down._"

"Aye, sir," the crew stated. For some reason, that familiar language seemed to assure them of something. What, Arthur wasn't sure, but he was happy that they were now more or less on board for going off the ship.

"Lead the way, Alfred," Arthur turned to Alfred, who seemed to be getting over the fact Arthur could still use that old language.

"Right," Alfred nodded and swiftly turned towards the plank that led to the docks, where the crowd seemed to have grown exponentially. He started walking and Arthur followed soon behind, the rest of his crew following like a train. It was a little odd readjusting to standing back on the ground, but Arthur got a hang of it soon enough.

There was a small line of policemen standing around, making sure the crowd didn't overwhelm them right as they got off the boat. Immediately, though, one face stood out over all the others. Arthur had to stare at him for a while, he looked so familiar. Or maybe it was a girl, that hair sure seemed to allude to that, but the stubble on his chin definitely made him assume that this was a guy. He'd shown up in Arthur's dreams nearly all the time, but this was his first time seeing him in real life for…10 years.

Alfred seemed to be talking to plenty of people that looked like they were of authority. They looked like they wanted to ask Arthur questions, but Alfred was keeping them at bay. When Arthur turned back to that man in the crowd, he seemed to be yelling something at a policeman and Arthur couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

"Oh, my God, he laughed," Alfred lightly elbowed him.

"It's not like I'm incapable," Arthur rolled his eyes, glancing at Alfred.

"You know, I hope you're ready for a lot of questions," Alfred sighed. "Reporters are going to ask you a bunch and then there's just the random people everywhere."

"They'll be asking me more than anyone, though, right?" Arthur asked. He had to make sure his crew wasn't overwhelmed too much. It was fine if he was.

"Because you're captain, yeah," Alfred nodded and finally saw that man Arthur was staring at, who was still yelling at the policeman. "Really?" Alfred sighed and calmly walked over to them. Arthur stayed where he was, a little terrified of that crowd still. He glanced back at his crew, some seemed like they were about ready to run back on the ship. But, they kept on looking at the crowd. A few of them seemed to recognize people, waving slightly and shyly. Arthur couldn't help but smile a little bit and turned back to Alfred.

He talked to the policeman for a little bit. The policeman looked between Alfred and that familiar man. Why couldn't Arthur remember his damn name? Eventually, the policeman moved out of the way, and the man immediately started bounding over to Arthur.

Finally, the name clicked. Just as the man hugged him and he instinctively hugged him back.

"Francis," Arthur let out a small laugh. He couldn't believe it. He almost forgot him.

He started speaking French very quickly. Arthur couldn't even try to start understanding. He knew in the past that he understood it slightly, but now it took him at least a little effort to understand English.

"I can't understand a word your saying, frog," Arthur shook his head slightly. Francis let out a laugh, pulling Arthur out to arm's length.

"I always promised myself I would kill you if you ever came back," Francis smiled at him and Arthur noticed that he had tears in his eyes. "But now I'm refraining myself from kissing you, mon cher."

"Please don't," Arthur sighed. "I'm already having a hard time adjusting to this crowd."

"Mon dieu, this is impossible," Francis laughed, hugging Arthur once more before finally letting him go. "You do realize that the rumors about you have already started?"

"Lord knows what everyone's come up with," Arthur sighed, smiling slightly.

"My favorite was that you were eaten by a sea monster," Francis winked.

"What?" Arthur scoffed. "They really thought that was all it would take to kill me?"

"Well, do enlighten me," Francis smiled. "What happened?"

"Well," Arthur smiled, glancing back at his crew, and then at Alfred, who was smiling happily behind Francis. "It's sort of a long story."

* * *

**Hmmm...Not too proud of this chapter... Anyway! He's back home! And Francis is back! Yayz! But the story's not over yet, so you know something else is gonna happen. The only way to tell what's going to happen is to keep reading!**

**Oh, and please review!**


	11. Welcome

Alfred couldn't hide his smile while Arthur told his story to Francis, who seemed to be watching intently. He still couldn't ignore that small twinge of jealousy he felt when Arthur hugged Francis…twice…But, that was okay. They were best friends, they were allowed to hug. But, then again, this man was French…

"Alfred!" Arthur's shouting quickly got Alfred's attention and he looked over at him. Both Arthur and Francis were looking at him.

"What?" Alfred asked.

"You're hopeless," Arthur sighed, shaking his head. "I asked you to help me get home."

"Hey, I don't know where your home is," Alfred put his hands in front of him. "Just…have Francis do it for you or something." Alfred flinched slightly. Why did he just do that? Giving Francis more time with Arthur would not be a good idea. He needed all the time that he could get with him.

"He can help us get there," Arthur sighed. "But I have a feeling you would work better for getting through this crowd." Arthur looked back at the crowd, his eyes filled with terror.

"Right," Alfred smiled, thankful Arthur saved him from his slip up.

"In that case," Francis smiled and held out his hand to Alfred. "I do not think we properly met. Je m'appelle Francis Bonnefroy."

"Alfred Jones," Alfred smiled slightly and took the hand, shaking it once before they pulled apart.

"Merci beaucoup for bringing mon cher back," Francis smiled.

"Oh, it wasn't a problem at all," Alfred said with a wave of his hand.

"You did help me relearn-" Arthur was cut off when there was a small commotion and Carriedo suddenly burst through the crowd, running down the docks, a swarm of policemen following soon after. The trio sat and watched for a while, until Arthur finally decided to speak up. "I'll get him later." This caused Alfred and Francis to start laughing and Arthur grinned slightly. "Now, if you don't mind, I would rather like to go home."

"Oui, oui," Francis said with a wave of his hand. "I will have you know, I actually visited it quite a lot and made sure it didn't get too dusty."

"Couldn't mum and dad have done that well enough?" Arthur scoffed. "They do live fairly close by, unlike you."

"Je suis désolé," Francis sighed and Alfred could practically see the mood drop as Arthur looked at him with surprise. "They…passed on 6 years ago…"

"What?" Arthur demanded. Alfred bit his lip. It hadn't occurred to him that people could have died in Arthur's absence. Before Francis had a chance to respond, Arthur spoke again, straightening himself out. "Fine, then. I will want to visit their graves first."

"Um, are you sure about that?" Alfred asked. "It would be better to get you home as soon as possible."

"Alfred," Arthur looked over at him and it was very obvious that he was holding back tears. "I have missed my parents' deaths. I am going to pay my respects."

"Alright," Alfred nodded. "We should get going, then."

"I will lead the way, then," Francis glanced over at the crowd and all three of them sighed. This would be Hell going through, Alfred could already tell. At first, when they started pushing through the crowd, it was a little difficult trying to make their way through. So many people tried to get a look at Arthur, but he kept a straight face, even though his eyes betrayed the fact that he was pretty much terrified.

They did manage to make it through the thick crowd relatively safely, but then there was a person from a newspaper that came up to them. Well, there were quite a few, but only one of them seemed to catch Arthur's attention with their question.

"Captain Arthur Kirkland! Many other ships have gone missing in the place you disappeared. We've been told you were savages on an island. Did you have anything to do with them?"

At hearing that question, Arthur finally stopped, and it only took Francis a moment to realize that he stopped before he turned around, too. Arthur turned his head slightly to the woman who asked the question and seemed to be thinking a little bit on how he would answer something like this.

"If you are implying that we acted as cannibals, that is completely untrue," Arthur stated easily. Alfred was a little stunned at that answer, in all honesty. Why did Arthur want to answer this question over all of the others?

"Did you have anything to do with their deaths?" the woman asked.

"Most likely," Arthur answered, his eyes straying to the ground slightly.

"Uh, you know you don't have to answer this question," Alfred said kind of quickly after seeing that his panic was mirrored in Francis.

"Well, I need some way to get it off my chest," Arthur stated. "At least this way, people know the truth. And no more rumors are sparked."

"So, what did you mean by most likely?" the woman asked, continuing her questions.

"Other people did make it onto the island," Arthur stated. "By then, our sanity was on shaky ground, in all honesty. They came in holding guns and saw us as…not humans, but animals. We had reverted to animal instincts, to be fair. But they posed a threat to what I considered to be my family. If you are going to ask me how many I killed, I have no idea. I guess you can say that I still kept my sailor mindset. Everyone that died on the island was given a proper burial at sea."

That was what he meant when he said that…Alfred looked at him for a little bit. He figured that it was justified, they tried to kill him first…

"Then what made Captain Jones different?" the woman asked.

"He didn't come in with any sort of weapon," Arthur smiled slightly, finally looking back at the reporter. "The first thing he tried to do with me is talk. He was the only one that did that. Even Carriedo saw me and thought I was some sort of animal. Alfred was the only one to try and talk to me."

Alfred smiled for a while at Arthur. He hadn't thought of anyone else that disappeared on the island, let alone how anyone else would act towards Arthur. The only reason they came onto the island with no weapons was because they figured it was uninhabited. If they did have guns…this probably would have turned out completely different.

"Alright," Alfred spoke up, seeing more people starting to surround them again. "We should get going." He held onto Arthur's shoulders behind him and started pushing him forward. Francis took that as his cue to start leading again and they managed to get through the crowd yet again.

"I probably would have tried to be peaceful with you," Francis sent a smirk back to them.

"Please," Arthur scoffed. "You would have tried to shoot me on sight. And then you would promptly surrender after I started killing off your men."

"I would have been able to recognize you," Francis put a hand over his heart, like he was hurt.

"I don't know," Alfred sighed, stretching slightly. "He did have longer hair than you, after all."

"I remember when he tried doing that before," Francis sighed thoughtfully.

"You did what?" Alfred laughed, looking down at Arthur.

"I was a bloody kid," Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes.

"And you figured I was the parfait example to grow up to," Francis laughed.

"Shut it," Arthur said. "I'm about to see my parents' grave, I would prefer to do it in a good mood."

"D'accord, I can understand that," Francis shrugged. "I will stay quiet for now."

"You actually know how to do that?" Arthur smirked.

"Without you around, mon cher, it has been too quiet," Francis sighed.

"Can't imagine him being the life of the party," Alfred laughed slightly, and laughed even more when Arthur turned around to send him a small glare. "I'm just fooling around, relax."

"Out of curiosity," Francis glanced back at them. "What was Arthur like on that island?"

"Tan," Alfred shrugged.

"I can see that now," Francis rolled his eyes.

"Well…it's not really my place to tell anything," Alfred sighed. "Ask Arthur."

"And I won't be telling you anything," Arthur stated. "Knowing you, you'll start keeling over, laughing at it."

"Alright, I give you that," Francis put his hands up in surrender.

"You know, I'm surprised that it's so sunny right now," Alfred said casually, looking up at the sky.

"Yes, well, it is supposed to rain tomorrow…" Francis shrugged.

"Great, I hate rain," Arthur sighed, looking at the street.

"I guess you'll just have to get used to it," Alfred sighed. This must be a little irritating for Arthur, now that he thought about it. He had a home back at that island, and now he was forced to get used to this new home…Well, old home, but still… "Sorry," Alfred whispered to him and Arthur nodded slightly in return.

* * *

**Bleh, alright, so now we get a real glimpse at the reality Arthur has been missing. Bit of a reality check with his parent's deaths...Sorry about that! Then again, their characters hardly existed, so... Anyway, there are very few chapters left, I have no idea how much exactly, but we're nearing the end. Sorry, guys!**

**Please review.**


	12. Get Away

Arthur sighed heavily, lying in his bed, in the dark, staring at his ceiling. This was insane. He knew this place was home, he could tell. He remembered it as his home, where he lived. But it just didn't feel right anymore. And his bed was becoming painfully uncomfortable.

Arthur sat up and looked around. It was so empty in here… His house was fairly large, far too large for just him. And he really couldn't handle all of this space.

Arthur just shook his head and quickly moved so that he was lying down on the floor. It felt so much more comfortable for some reason, but he still felt lonely. On the island, he knew his family was just a few steps away. On the ship, Alfred was always nearby, whether that was helping him or just being around each other. Now? He was alone, in a place he could say he hardly knew…

Frankly speaking, it just sucked.

Arthur tried closing his eyes on the ground and getting sleep. But dreams didn't come. He could have laid there for hours, or maybe even minutes, he wasn't quite sure. But he knew that he would not get to sleep this way.

Grumbling slightly to himself, Arthur sat upright and leaned against the bedside table, crossing his legs over each other. Meditating always helped him get to sleep when he had a lot on his mind. Or headaches. Both were the case right now.

He tried thinking of something, anything, that would distract him. Only one thought seemed to help. Alfred. He had no idea why that helped anything, but it did manage to calm him down significantly. And he was soon able to drift off into a light sleep. And he was painfully aware of when it started raining.

* * *

Alfred shuffled awkwardly in front of the door. He knew this was Arthur's house, he had dropped him off there the day before. Was it weird that he came back? Maybe he should just go back…

The rain hitting him on the back seemed to be telling him to stay. Arthur would still need help coping back into his past life, after all. Francis could help, sure. But that was nothing compared to what Alfred could offer. That, and the fact that imagining Francis spending more time with Arthur made him slightly irritable.

Taking in a deep breath, Alfred knocked loudly on the door. It occurred to him that it was a little early, maybe he should have come later…

Luckily, though, the answer was quick and Arthur had opened the door, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Yes?" Arthur asked tiredly.

"You okay?" Alfred asked worriedly. When Arthur looked up at him with tired eyes, it was obvious he didn't get much sleep.

"I'll be fine…" Arthur muttered, looking at the ground. "Um, come in." He stepped to the side, allowing Alfred to come in, though he dripped slightly on the floor from the rain.

"It's raining," Alfred smiled slightly, closing the door behind him.

"I noticed," Arthur sighed, leaning against the nearest wall.

"So, um, how are you adjusting?" Alfred asked awkwardly. This whole meeting turned out so much better in his head…

Arthur sighed and just continued looking at the ground, like he was thinking through his answer. "Everything seems so familiar…" Arthur stated finally. "But, it just doesn't feel right, I guess. Adjusting is proving to be a little harder than I expected…"

"I'm sorry," Alfred muttered. "I figured coming home would be the best for you…"

"Who knows, maybe it is," Arthur laughed slightly to himself. "Maybe I still have that island in my head and this will drive it out…"

"Is the island really such a bad thing?" Alfred asked. "I mean, you're pretty much the most open person I've met and I'm pretty sure I have the island to thank for that."

"You'll have to go to Francis if you want open," Arthur muttered.

"Alright, I've got an idea," Alfred brightened suddenly. He remembered seeing a forest while the problem of where he would stay was sorted out. It had to be something extravagant, apparently, because he brought back Arthur Kirkland, but it was a little big… "Do you think you're well enough to go outside?"

"I'm tired, not ill," Arthur stated.

"Great, then come on," Alfred said happily and grabbed hold of one of Arthur's arms, dragging him to the door.

"Alfred!" Arthur let out an exasperated sigh. "At least let me get some shoes on. I don't want to come back ill."

"Alright, alright," Alfred put his hands up in surrender and Arthur disappeared in his house to fetch shoes. Alfred was nearly bouncing where he stood, he was starting to get so excited. Arthur might really like the forest. He seemed to like the trees back on the island. Sure, these weren't palm trees, but they would be close enough.

"Where do you even want to go?" Arthur sighed, coming back into Alfred's sight.

"That's a surprise," Alfred winked and grabbed Arthur's wrist, pulling him out the door he opened with his other hand. He kicked the door closed quickly and saw that Arthur was already flinching at the rain. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Arthur sighed, looking at the ground.

"Alright, then, let's go!" Alfred said happily, pulling Arthur with him as he marched down the street, towards where he hoped he remembered the forest was. This would be a good idea, he assured himself. It could quite possibly cheer Arthur up.

"Why won't you tell me where we're going?" Arthur sighed.

"Well, the point of a surprise is that you don't know what's going to happen," Alfred glanced back at him and winced slightly. He did look very unhappy, completely drenched and scowling at him. Well, the scowl didn't have to be directed at him… "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll love it."

"Right," Arthur sighed.

They walked in silence for a while and Alfred started to wonder if they were going in the right direction. Eventually, though, the thick green foliage came into view and Alfred started moving faster towards it, despite Arthur's small protests. Those protests were quieted fairly well, though, when the forest came into full view.

"Told you that you'd like it," Alfred grinned, pulling him faster.

Arthur was apparently speechless as they finally came under the safety of the trees and the rain stopped hitting them. Alfred let go of him and looked up at the trees. They weren't too tall, probably just a little taller than all of those palm trees Arthur was used to. It wasn't too different from the jungle…

"So, are you speechless or something?" Alfred asked, turning to Arthur, but he wasn't there. All that was left was his shoes.

* * *

Arthur couldn't help but laugh from his vantage point in the trees. It was fairly easy to climb, even in these restricting clothes he had on. Alfred was looking around frantically, apparently not even thinking about looking up. Arthur laughed harder and jumped to another tree.

He sighed happily, being in the trees was like being at home. He had no idea he missed it so much until he was up in the trees himself. It made him wonder how everyone else was coping. He practically forgot all of his problems up in the trees, though.

Forgot about his parents. Forget about that house. Forget about responsibility…

Arthur smiled, breathing in the air. It was extremely different to what he was used to and it had that hint of rain that he couldn't exactly say he liked.

"Arthur!" Alfred yelled loudly, finally snapping Arthur out of his thoughts. Arthur looked down and saw that Alfred was simply looking up at him.

"Yes?" Arthur asked, kneeling slightly on the branch he had situated himself on.

"You seemed a little lost in your own world," Alfred smiled up at him. "Does that mean you like the surprise?"

"Thank you, Alfred," Arthur smiled slightly and looked over at the rest of the forest. From what he could tell, it wasn't exactly very large, but it was very hard to resist the urge he was having to just jump from tree to tree through the forest.

"You know, if you want to jump through the trees…" Alfred sighed. "I brought you out here for a reason, to relax and let loose. Don't worry, I've got your shoes."

Arthur nodded happily, looking deep into the forest. He figured it wouldn't take him too long to get through it and it seemed to be pretty easy, especially with these branches everywhere. The more Alfred was around, the more he seemed to like him. He was the first person on the island not to point a weapon at him, he tried protecting him around Carriedo, he helped him relearn everything, he was showing him this forest…

Without a word, Arthur jumped to the next tree. He had a little trouble at first, but he easily got the hang of it once he jumped to the fourth tree and he started moving faster and quicker. It was refreshing, feeling the wind run through his hair, letting his reflexes take control and just move through simply, without hardly thinking. He had almost forgot what all of this felt like.

Slowly, Arthur moved to stop, looking down slightly but not seeing what was below.

He didn't want to forget what any of this felt like…He didn't want to forget the island…He…missed it. He almost wanted to go back, but he knew that he couldn't. There was too much that he had to do here.

Arthur slowly made his way down so that he landed back on the grass, still staring at the ground. Now that he had experienced the nothing on the island, he couldn't say he liked the real world. It was crowded, dull…boring…

"What's wrong?" Alfred panted slightly as he ran up to Arthur.

"I didn't know there were forests like this in England," Arthur muttered, putting a hand on the tree he just came down from.

"Well, I can't expect you to remember something on your first couple days back," Alfred rubbed the back of his head. "But I had no idea one of these were here, either. But, you know, there are a ton of forests back in America, my home."

"America…" Arthur muttered under his breath. That was when he got an idea. It was a great idea, but it did require something that he didn't exactly have at the moment.

"Well," Alfred stretched slightly. "Do you want to head back?"

"No," Arthur shook his head numbly.

"What?" Alfred asked. Arthur bit his lip. Alfred was bound to leave soon, anyway, so he might as well…

"I don't want to leave," Arthur muttered and quickly moved so that he wrapped his arms around Alfred's torso, somehow managing to miss his arms. He happily nuzzled his face into Alfred's chest and smiled slightly. "I don't want to go back…"

"We kind of have to go back," Alfred chuckled slightly, slightly hugging him back. Arthur figured that this was probably a good sign and decided to keep going.

"I want to go to America," Arthur mumbled, loud enough so that Alfred could hear him. "Get stranded in a forest, forget about everyone else…with you…"

It was silent for a while, probably because Alfred was registering what Arthur had just said. Arthur could feel himself start to shake slightly, wondering if he had done the right thing or not… This could easily turn out very bad for him…

"I do, too…" Now that was an answer Arthur wasn't expecting from him. Alfred finally fully hugged him back and rested his chin on his head, since Arthur was slightly shorter. Arthur was about to say something, but Alfred cut him off. "But we can't. I've already gotten news from home. They've been looking for me, and I have to go home and do what they want me to. And you should at least give this place a good try before you really say you hate it."

"But…" Arthur muttered. It was really quiet, he could barely even hear it himself.

"How about this?" Alfred asked. "I'll go on one more mission. When I'm done, I'll come back here, see how you're doing. If you still hate it, I can quit and we can run away to those forests and get lost. No one will know where we are, we can just disappear. But you have to give reality a fair shot, okay?"

"You have to promise that nothing bad will happen to you," Arthur muttered. "Don't…get lost like I did…"

"Don't worry, they've been building ships safer now," Alfred laughed slightly. "You know, they're almost done with this new ship, which is supposed to be unsinkable. It's called the Titanic."

"I'm not going to go anywhere near a death trap like that," Arthur scoffed and Alfred laughed a little harder.

"Alright, so we have a deal?" Alfred separated them so he could look at Arthur in the eyes. Arthur hadn't noticed until just then that his eyes were watering slightly.

"Okay," Arthur nodded slightly. "When do you have to leave for America?"

"Tomorrow," Alfred sighed. "I promise, though, I'll be back in a month, two tops. You can tell me how you feel then."

"I don't even know what I'll be doing while I wait for you," Arthur glanced at the ground.

"The Great Arthur Kirkland?" Alfred looked him up and down, a knowing smirk on his face. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

* * *

**Yay, lovey dovey feelings**. **Alright, after this chapter, there's probably going to be one left. And there will be a time skip, about three months, I think. Sorry about that, but you won't miss much, I swear.**

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	13. End

Arthur was dreadfully bored. When Alfred had first left, it was apparently expected of him to simply "rest and recover from the traumatic experience", as was expected of the rest of his crew. So, if simply sitting at home wasn't boring enough, he had gone through so many interviews, he could possibly write down his whole experience in a book if he really felt like it. Francis came around now and again to provide some slight entertainment, but he was still boring. He was a lot like the rest of them…

Then came the second month. Now Arthur had to find something to do and for some reason, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to be on a ship. So, Francis was able to pull a few strings so that Arthur would be working on his own ship as first mate. Arthur kept on reminding him that he would be leaving soon. But Francis would just laugh and nod. Every day, Arthur would look out to the sea and wait for Alfred's ship.

Now it was three months. So, on top of being bored out of his mind not really doing much on Francis' ship, he was also worried sick about Alfred. Where the hell could that idiot have gone? Did he get lost again, or something? There wasn't a single letter from the ship, or news. So of course he had to be worried.

Arthur was currently sitting on the railing of Francis' ship, looking out at the harbor, expecting Alfred's ship to show up any second, the idiot laughing his head off about how he took a wrong turn at Japan or something. A lot of the people on Francis' ship thought Arthur was a lost cause, completely insane from his time on that island.

Arthur sighed and hopped down from the railing. He could hear some of the crew members gossiping right now.

"I think they took his brain out while they were there."

"Maybe they ate it."

"What do you think he keeps looking at?"

"Probably thinks the water is so pretty and shiny."

Arthur scoffed and walked quickly along the deck. It was pointless for him to stay if they weren't even going to be doing anything. The only reason he had to be there was because Francis was at some sort of a meeting. His ship would finally have a job, that probably being finding Carriedo. Alfred would have to hurry if he wanted to catch up to them. As much as Arthur wanted payback on Carriedo, Alfred was priority in his mind. Always had been.

"Yankee ship sunk!" Arthur could hear a kid screaming about the news from the ship now and that line really piqued his interest.

"What?" Arthur asked, getting closer to the railing so that he could hear clearer.

"Found somewhere in the Pacific! Captain Jones and crew gone missing!"

Arthur froze. That name was just a coincidence, right? Jones was a very common name in America. Still, he couldn't stop himself from quickly making his way down the gang plank and paying the kid a few shillings before grabbing a newspaper and quickly reading it through.

_Captain Jones and his crew were sent on a trading mission to Japan. They were expected back last month on the 24__th__. They did not return and it has been almost another month. Some wreckage has been spotted in the Pacific. It is possible Captain Jones has gotten lost, as has happened in the past, and sank the ship. As of now, it is unclear whether the crew is alive or dead. Could this be another Kirkland case?_

Arthur scoffed at the last line. Was he really that infamous? You disappear for 10 years…

He quickly found a picture in the paper. Even with the shaky printing, it was very obvious as to who this was. The caption read _Captain Alfred F. Jones._

"No…" Arthur muttered and took off running. He didn't care if he left the ship, they could handle themselves just fine. They never listened to him, anyway. They figured he was just insane… He ran to where he remembered Francis' house was. He assumed that was where he was being told what he would be doing next.

After almost getting hit three times by bikes or people, he finally managed to make it to Francis' house. Without even knocking on the door, he opened it up. He could easily hear that there were people in the kitchen and quickly moved in that direction. He didn't even give Francis and the other man talking to him time to register that he was there before he slapped the newspaper on the table in front of Francis.

"Read it," Arthur demanded, panting slightly from his run.

"Is something the matter, Arthur?" Francis asked carefully and Arthur refrained from rolling his eyes. Even he thought something was wrong with Arthur. Lord knows, maybe there was, but that was not the point right now.

"Captain Alfred F. Jones, the man who rescued me and brought me back, has gone missing," Arthur narrowing his eyes at him.

"Ah," Francis' eyes widened slightly and he picked up the newspaper quickly. Francis knew, more or less, how Arthur felt about Alfred from their month or so together. He knew Arthur fully intended to run away with him and go missing, never to be seen again.

Arthur waited in anticipation as Francis slowly read through the newspaper. After he finished, he set it aside and looked like he was trying to think through what to say next. Arthur opened his mouth to tell him to hurry up, but Francis had finally decided to talk.

"Do you think my crew and I would be able to go after this man instead?" Francis asked calmly to the person he was talking to before and Arthur stared at him in wonder.

"What makes this man more important than Carriedo?" the man replied.

"This is the man that brought my best friend back to reality," Francis shrugged and Arthur frowned. That wasn't exactly true. At all. "I owe him a favor. So does my first mate. Are we not currently allies with America, anyway? What's the harm in finding one of their naval captains?"

"Alright, then," the man muttered, looking down at some papers. "I will allow you to search for this man."

Arthur couldn't even try to hide the smile that grew on his face.

* * *

"I would like to guess we can find them around here," Francis pointed to a general location on the map.

"That isn't too far from where I was…" Arthur murmured. "Do you think he could be on that island?"

"Apparently not many have searched," Francis let out a small chuckle. "We are not quite sure of where to check."

"Where did you look for me?" Arthur asked out of curiosity.

"I was far off," Francis let out a laugh, pointing probably quite a few miles away from where Arthur's island was. "Then again, there was no debris left of your ship, so there was nowhere to start looking."

Arthur hummed slightly looking over the map. "Maybe we should just search around here, see if we find a signal fire somewhere along here."

"What was he even doing over here?" Francis asked, glancing up at his first mate.

"Lord knows," Arthur shrugged. "Why do you think hardly anyone's been looking for him?"

"He's not the best or most valuable captain," Francis sighed, still looking at the map. "From what I can gather, he hardly managed to get the title in the first place. His only accomplishment was finding you on accident."

"Are you saying that's not a good accomplishment?" Arthur smirked slightly, looking up at Francis.

"Non, not at all," Francis laughed, looking up, too. "We should steer the ship in the right direction."

"Right," Arthur nodded and the two quickly stepped out of Francis' cabin, into the light of the sea. The ship was none too happy, in all honesty. Going after a man, purely because the captain's crazy first mate wanted to… Arthur wouldn't have been entirely happy, either. At least, once they found Alfred, Arthur would have someone around that didn't think he was crazy… For the first time since Alfred left…

Arthur looked out at the sea while Francis went to change the course of the ship. Arthur could still say he didn't like the sea much. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of walking around on it… But it was still better than being back in England. At least here, he wouldn't have people coming to try to "help him". Here it didn't rain as often, he wasn't bored as much, and he was actually doing something. Arthur would never be able to really fit in where he left off. He was just waiting to see Alfred again so he could tell him he was right and they could just run away.

"Signal fire!" someone shouted and Arthur looked up at the crow's nest, where the cry came from, and then looked out, into the ocean. There were small islands scattered around, but one of them had a distinct line coming from it made up of smoke. Before Arthur knew it, the ship had changed directions and they were headed right for the island.

"Prepare a longboat," Arthur swiftly ordered a few of the crewmen who were just standing around, looking at the islands, same as him. They looked at each other for a second in amusement and then set off to do what Arthur had told them. Arthur just gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. "I'm not crazy, you know…"

* * *

Before long, Francis, Arthur, and a few others were on the shore of the unfamiliar island. Arthur had refused to come armed, whereas Francis and the other three seemed like they had to come with a weapon. Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. That was the mentality that made it take 10 years for him to get "rescued."

"I do hope you don't get your hopes up too high," Francis sighed as they hopped off the longboat. "For all you know, something could have happened to Alfred."

"If I know Alfred, then nothing bad happened to him," Arthur replied easily and looked up to see where the fire was. It seemed like it was somewhere near the middle of the island. "Leave it to him to put his signal fire in the middle of the jungle…"

"Like I said, he's not very capable, non?" Francis laughed slightly and they all started going into the jungle calmly. Arthur did notice, however, that the three men with them had their hands on the pistols they brought with them.

They entered the jungle and almost immediately Arthur felt at home. He had to resist the urge to just jump into the trees and happily hop through the jungle, not a care in the world. He did suddenly feel amazing once they hit the island. It was just a shame he had to focus while he made his way through.

Soon, though, they heard some rustling in the bushes and all of them stiffened, readying themselves in case something came and attacked. But, a simple boar quickly ran its way past them and Arthur couldn't help but let out a laugh. Just seeing something like that brought about so much nostalgia…

"Damn it!" Alfred's voice let out an aggravated groan and Arthur immediately perked up. There was more (clumsy) rustling and soon, Alfred himself ran out of the bushes. He didn't look too bad, in all honesty. His pants were shredded in a couple places and he wasn't wearing shoes…Or a shirt. But Arthur didn't quite care too much about that, all that he cared about was that Alfred was okay. At least, he looked okay.

Before Alfred even had a chance to realize the people there with him, Arthur ran forward and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Wh-what?" Alfred asked, seeming like he was trying to figure out what was going on. "Arthur?"

"You said two months, you git," Arthur muttered into Alfred's chest.

"You didn't even give me a month out here!" Alfred started laughing. "You need to give me a fair shot at trying to be like you."

Arthur shook his head. "Don't even try that."

"You three," Francis muttered. "Go and find the others. They should be near the fire."

"Aye, sir," the three muttered in unison and headed off in into the jungle.

"I gave it a fair shot like you told me…" Arthur mumbled.

"And?" Alfred asked.

"I don't like it…"

"Anyone could have told you that," Francis laughed. Arthur sighed at his interruption, but Alfred seemed unperturbed.

"So, what do you want to do about it?" Alfred asked simply, resting his chin on Arthur's head.

"You said you wanted to get lost again," Francis offered and Arthur turned to glare at him, but then realized what he was getting at.

"We could just stay here," Arthur smiled slightly to himself.

"Stay here?" Alfred asked, pulling away slightly to look at Arthur. Luckily, he didn't look shocked or angry, he was merely curious.

"You said we could run away," Arthur smiled larger. "And I think this place is far better than a forest. We can both just go missing."

"MIA…" Alfred looked up at the sky. "Seems like a good way to go out."

"I could easily say we didn't find you with the others," Francis shrugged. "And then Arthur was clumsy, as always, and just fell off the side of my ship."

"Oi, just because I can't swim-"

"Whatever works," Alfred chimed in happily, covering Arthur's mouth with his hand, receiving a glare from the Englishman.

"Are you absolutely sure, mon cher?" Francis asked.

"Of course I'm sure," Arthur said once he managed to get Alfred's hand off his mouth. "I won't be able to go back, anyway."

"But you seemed to be fitting back into your old life fairly well," Francis stated.

"'Seemed' being the key word," Arthur sighed. "10 years is a long time…and I can't just rewrite what happened to me and forget it ever happened to me. I can't go back, too much has happened. I'm not the same. Everyone thinks I'm still crazy. A savage."

"If I had known you had it so tough, I would have tried a little harder to get off of this thing," Alfred smiled slightly at him.

"If you two are done acting lovey dovey," Francis sighed. "I must go back to my ship."

He started walking away and at first, Arthur watched as the last piece of civilization slowly started to leave. But, then he called out to him.

"Thank you, Francis," Arthur couldn't help but smile. He would finally be allowed to just relax again. But now, he had someone with him.

"Well, since we're finally alone now," Alfred said happily and turned Arthur's head to him and quickly pulled him into a kiss. It was very simple, and probably didn't last any longer than a few seconds. Arthur was only slightly startled at first, but then happily returned the kiss and then they pulled away.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for that," Arthur smiled.

"Now, I'm going to need your help figuring out how to kill a damn pig," Alfred laughed slightly, looking at where the wild boar went off to. "I really need meat…"

* * *

**Bah, I'm so sorry! You guys had to wait for so long for this last chapter and then it sucks...Gr... I'm really sorry this is so late. School decided to be evil and then I've been getting headaches recently, but that's so excuse for the bad quality for this chapter...In all hosesty, I've been getting so distracted with new story ideas and I've just never been able to focus since, like...chapter 7, I'm pretty sure.**

**Anyway, I will disappear for a little bit, since I'm having a rough time writing this xxxHolic fanfic for my best friend's birthday. But, when I come back, I do have quite a few ideas for other stories. You can see what they are, they're gonna be on my profile, I'll probably start with "Swapped" and then go on to "Deciet" and then "Insane" and "Makings of a Monster".**

**Thanks for following this story through to the end! It means a lot.**


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